LAKEWOOD >> As soon as Claire Tannehill crossed the finish line in a competitive Class 4A 100-meter dash at Jeffco Stadium on Saturday, she raised her hands in victory.

The Holy Family junior not only secured a state title in the event at 11.75 seconds, but she claimed second in the 200-meter dash just a few hours later at the state championship meet — in the Tigers’ first year up from 3A, no less. She didn’t want to leave any doubt as to who was the best short-distance sprinter in the classification.

“It is something I expected,” Tannehill said. “We’ve been tapering up to state. The plan for prelims going into state was just to qualify. There was no need to push myself, so going into finals, I was pretty confident with my ability to win, just knowing that I had taken the time and we had tapered for that exact moment.”

She beat out Windsor’s Maya Brasch (second, 11.83) and Mead’s Rylee Klatt (third, 11.88) in the 100, but fell into silver behind Windsor’s Kiana Cumings (23.96) in the 200. Tannehill clocked in at 24.37 for that one.

Tannehill has been honing her craft all season long by lifting weights and incorporating wickets — small hurdles used for sprint training — into her everyday approach. That, along with tweaking her starts a bit, has helped her increase her turnover rate with her shorter stride.

A little familiarity didn’t hurt, either.

“I’ve been running against the same girls that I’ve run against all season,” Tannehill said. “It’s always been a race against them. I would say that final heat of the 100 was similar to almost any heat we ran throughout the entire (season) leading up to state. It was just nice to finally see all the work and effort I’ve been putting in finally come through and let me win that heat.

“Since I’ve run with these girls so much, I know their strategies. I know their strengths and I know where they struggle. To be able to play to my strengths and almost play to their weaknesses allowed me to come out and do what I do best.”

Still among the best

Mead junior Klatt may not have won the top marks in her three races like she had hoped, but in her competitions against the top talent in 4A, she still proved herself worthy. Three sprint finals in one day wore her out more than she expected.

“So far, I’ve run three 400s, so that’s been hard considering some people in the 100 and the 200 haven’t touched a 400 yet,” Klatt said.

“I was especially tired for the 100, because I ran the open 400, 4×400, 200 and 100 already.

“It’s definitely been a tough day. Prelims the past two days have been hard. I’ve beaten a lot of the girls that I just lost to in finals, so that has definitely been a challenge, but I’m going to bounce back for next year. Finals day is always just the hardest day. It’s kind of like survive and get through what you can.”

She didn’t just survive. She thrived. Klatt placed second in the 400 at 56.38 behind Windsor’s Cumings (54.92), third in the 100 at 11.88 and fourth in the 200 at 24.61. Cumings claimed gold in the latter race with a 23.96.

Klatt will carry Saturday’s experience into what she hopes will be an even stronger senior showing a year from now.

“I’m proud of the season,” Klatt concluded. “I’m proud of the effort I put in, in practice. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m the most proud of this weekend, but I’m happy that I gave it my all mentally. I think next year, just going into state, (I’ll have) a better idea of the events I’m going to run and be better at planning it out. I think that helps. It’s also just knowing that everyone brings tough competition in the finals, so you’ve got to bring it tougher.”

Going out on top

When Legacy senior Annalina Torres finished third in the 400-meter dash during her junior 5A state championship campaign, it opened her eyes to the possibilities of what she could accomplish.

A year later, on Saturday, no one came close to touching her when she crossed the finish line at 54.46 seconds. The next girl in tow, Golden’s Abigail Trapp, ended her own race 0.5 seconds later. It was everything she hoped for and more.

“It was really exciting. This is exactly what I’ve been working for this entire year. To be able to get it is something that makes me really, really happy,” Torres said. “I was really scared I wasn’t going to get it. At state, people pull out crazy PRs all the time. A lot of the girls I’m running with, they’re really, really amazing. There’s always that chance that someone’s going to come and do something amazing. I’m glad it was me today.”

Torres herself enjoyed a small PR but said she was more thrilled with the gold she got to hang around her neck after the competition. She held back through the first half of the race, then went into overdrive through the last curve.

All of her hard work reaped the ultimate prize.

“Honestly, it was just being consistent, going to practice all the time, doing the workouts even though I didn’t want to,” Torres said. “I think it was putting myself in a position where I just did the workouts. They didn’t have to be perfect, but they were my best for what I could give that day. I think that was the biggest thing.”

She later finished third in the 200-meter dash with a 24.53.