By Steve Smith
LAKEWOOD — Owen Mellen’s debut in the state 3A track and field meet May 17 didn’t start out particularly well. He almost missed the team bus to get to Jefferson County Stadium.
Once he got there, Mellen cleared 5 feet 7 inches to take 14th place in the competition.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I cleared opening height by a lot, so that should have been cake. It got to me. It’s happened before. At Weld County (in late April), I jumped opening height and cleared it by so much. I didn’t make it over the next one.”
Mellen had a couple of false starts in his attempts to clear 5 feet 9 inches.
“That got into my head a little bit,” he said. “That track is slippery, but that’s no excuse. It got into my head, and I didn’t get over it.”
Mellen’s top height of 5-9 came at the Bronco Stampede at Weld Central High School in late April.
“There are a lot more people here (at state) than I’m used to. But I really don’t care about them,” he said. “I wanted to get over the one height and stay a little longer. It’s the first time I’ve been to the state track meet. Next year, I’ll come and, hopefully, do a little better.”
Contact Sports Editor Steve Smith at ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com
