LAKEWOOD - Benjamin Adams’ kick was the stuff of legends on the opening day of the Class 5A boys state track meet.

The Mountain Vista junior twice displayed an unmatched ability to close out races to win individual and team glory and get his team off to a fantastic start to the three-day meet at Jefferson County Stadium.

Adams used his kick to win the 5A boys cross country title in the fall and it was on display again Thursday as he claimed the 3,200 meter run and rallied the 4x800 meter relay team to victory as well.

“I definitely relay on the my kick and I needed it to get past Jackson (Golden’s Ferguson),” Adams said after he got to the line in 9 minutes, 10.51 seconds, to Ferguson’s 9:11.09 in the 3,200.

Adams was the defending champion in the race, but he faced a significant challenge from Ferguson and ThunderRidge standout Ben Lee.

Ferguson came around the final curve with a significant lead, but Adams slingshotted past him in the closing stretch for a half-second victory with Lee third in 9:13.94.

“After winning it last year, I really wanted to come back and do it again,” Adams said. “I wanted to conserve some energy for the 4x800, but I really just had to let it go the last 50 meters.”

Last season, Adams led off Mountain Vista’s 4x800 relay team that ended up with a photo finish against Northfield.

On that occasion, Nighthawks’ standout Ayuub Hassan edged former Golden Eagles standout Benjamin Anderson at the line to give his team a win by 0.10 of a second.

It was nearly an identical scenario in the rematch, though Broomfield actually had the lead coming around the final curve. Both Hassan and Adams made moves to pass and this time, Adams’ kick made the difference. The Golden Eagles’ victory came in 7:50.88 to Northfield’s 7:51.13.

“Definitely cool that us and Northfield just seem to go back and forth, so it’s fun to be right up there with them again and get the better of them this time,” Adams said.

Charles Watts opened the relay for Mountain Vista with an energetic run and gave off to Nico Anderson, who tried to pick off a few of the runners in front of him before he gave it Chase Beebe. Beebe found himself in a crowd and just knew he was near.

“I was pretty tired after I got done, but I got back up and watched Ben win it for us,” Beebe said. “That was nice to watch.”

While they didn’t win the 3,200 meters, Fort Collins accrued significant points in the event, which helped the Lambkins to a double-digit team lead in the 5A boys team standings after one day as they seek to be the team that ends Cherokee Trail’s three-season stranglehold on the state title.

Senior Cadel Ruthven and junior Sean Giles finished fourth and fifth, while sophomore Will Johns grabbed seventh in a points grab for Fort Collins, which sits in front of Mountain Vista (20) and Eaglecrest (18).

The Golden Eagles had the aforementioned two state titles that added up to their 20 points, while the Raptors dominated the long jump behind seniors Cameron Bell and Bryson States to get their points.

Bell set the all-classification Colorado state record in the long jump of 24 feet, 8 1/2 inches, at the Stutler Twilight meet a few weeks ago and had designs on possibly going bigger at the state meet.

That ultimately didn’t happen, but he still won the event comfortably with a top effort of 24 feet that came on his second attempt in the finals.

“I feel good that I got it done,” Bell said. “I was going to go for another state record, but first place is first place. I worked hard for it, so it’s a big moment and I’m trying to take it in.”

Bell came right over after running the prelims of the 110 meter hurdles and jumped consecutively with the rest of his flight already finished. He scratched his first two attempts to put some pressure on himself, but a 23-4 in his final attempt got him into the finals and would have held up if he hadn’t bettered it in the finals. States finished behind him in second place with a PR of 23-0 1/2.

Bell hit a couple of hurdles during his preliminary heat and ended up just squeaking into the finals of the 110 hurdles, which was made possibly by the stunning exit of Loveland senior Jackson Conroy in prelims.

Conroy, the defending state champion and top seed in the event, went down after a collision with a hurdle in the early portion of the second preliminary heat and suffered a visible shoulder injury.

Loveland did have an event champion, however, as junior Ashton Daly won the state title in the discus. The graduation of two-time state winner Jarrius Ward of Overland opened the top spot and it was secured by Daly, who was the runner-up a year ago.

Daly threw 163 feet, 9 inches — short of his season best of 174-4 — but it earned him a close by in eight inches over Chatfield junior Isaac Coffey (163-1), with Brighton senior Keith Robinson third with a top throw of 160-7.

In the final field event of the opening day, junior Thomas Cole continued Monarch’s outstanding tradition in the pole vault with a state title.

Cole placed eighth in the 2025 competition with a top effort of 13 feet, 10 inches, but claimed this season’s title with a leap of 15-10 that represents a new PR. That gave him a six-inch margin over Golden junior Gage Pieper, who was the top seed coming into the event.

“I wasn’t really expecting it, but I was so happy I was able to execute today and win it,” Cole said. “It’s beyond words. …I came in seeded second to Gage and I was a little nervous, but you never know. I didn’t quite get 16 (feet), but that will come soon.”

Cole became the fifth different Monarch pole vaulter to win a state title in the past decade, following Tyler Rowan in 2023 and 2024, Max Manson in 2018 and 2019, Cole Rowan in 2017 and Andrew Barlow in 2015.