BOISE - It was a razor-thin margin that prevented Kaitlyn Gunnerson from earning two titles at the 2014 state 5A track and field meet.

And it happened again in the 2015 festivities at Dona Larsen Park. In the exact same race and against the same tough runner.

The Coeur d'Alene High senior won the 5A girls 100 hurdles in a school-record time of 14.39 seconds on Saturday's final day of the meet but later finished second behind Centennial's Tatyana Jones in the 300 hurdles.

It wasn't a virtual dead heat like Jones' 2014 victory but Gunnerson was nearly even with Jones in the second showdown before encountering a little trouble with the last hurdle. She finished with a personal-best time of 43.96 seconds as Jones prevailed in 43.71.

"Not bad for almost face-planting the last hurdle," Gunnerson said in response to coach Linda Lanker's praise. "I almost tripped. I took three steps and caught myself."

Gunnerson was one of four Coeur d'Alene-area athletes to win state crowns on Saturday.

Lake City senior Maddison Ward won the 5A girls 100 for the second straight year, Lake City senior Quinn Mitchell won the 5A boys discus crown and Post Falls freshman Melody Kempton claimed the 5A girls high jump title.

In team competition, Boise (87) edged Eagle (84) to win the 5A girls title with Coeur d'Alene (56) placing fifth and Lake City (42) coming in seventh. Capital won the 5A boys competition with Lake City (39 points for eighth) also finishing in the Top 10. Bishop Kelly (127.25) won the 4A girls title with Sandpoint (24) finishing a distant 10th while Rigby (103) won the 4A boys title.

Ward and Gunnerson each had solid opportunities to win two titles before being victim to standout performances.

Gunnerson had some issues clearing the hurdles throughout the race - she explained that she was clearing them with her right leg instead of her usual left - but it still marked the first time she ever broke 44 seconds.

"I can't argue when she has a massive headwind and runs her best time ever in the 300 hurdles," Lanker said. "I know she wanted so badly to win it but that's the same girl who got her last year and she was ready to defend her title too."

Gunnerson turned in an even better performance in the 100 hurdles when she clocked a 14.39 to win the state title for the second consecutive year. She also broke the school record of former Viking standout Morgan Struble (14.40 in 2012).

"I beat Morgan's record in that one so it's awesome," said Gunnerson, who will run college track at BYU. "I felt really good and fresh. In the 300, my legs didn't feel as fresh. I didn't feel as recovered as I usually do."

Ward prevailed in the 100 meters for the second straight year with a time of 12.20. She said she felt sluggish during the race and described her performance as "slow."

The two-time defending state champion in the 200, Ward got off to a good start in that race but Boise's Madison Lung was scintillating en route to a state-record winning time of 24.62 seconds. Ward crossed the line in 25.18 to fall short of a fifth state title.

"The race didn't turn out how I wanted it but I have four more years of track ahead of me," said Ward, who will run college track at Idaho State. "I'm proud of what I've accomplished but I know I have a lot more to do in the future. You're going to win some, you're going to lose some. That's just how it is."

Mitchell wrapped up a fine performance at the state meet by winning the discus with a toss of 166-1. He finished second in the shot put on Friday and overcame a mid-week knee injury that threatened to affect his performance.

"I was throwing a shot put in practice and I tweaked my left knee," Mitchell said. "The patellar kind of came out of place and popped back in and I've been wearing this knee brace here. During the shot, it felt a little unstable but I had a really good throw (52-5 3/4) and then today with the discus at 166-1, it felt a little unstable but nothing to where it would affect me."

Lake City coach Kelly Reed has viewed Mitchell's growth as a thrower and was thrilled with how he performed.

"He handled the pressure of the competition extremely well," Reed said. "I'm super proud of him. He put in a lot of work the past three years in those two events and to leave here as a senior with a state championship and a second-place finish you couldn't ask for anything more."

Kempton had trouble imagining that she could be standing on the top step of the medals' podium when the track season began. But that became reality when she won the event and equaled her personal best of 5 feet, 6 inches.

She had begun participating in the high jump in the fifth grade but viewed high school as an entirely different level.

"I was hoping to just come out here and do well and get top six," Kempton said of her preseason goals. "That was at the start of the year but once the year had gone on, I was doing pretty good.

"And it got in my head that I could actually win state."

A solid performance that didn't result in a medal was turned in by Coeur d'Alene senior Victoria Goetz, who finished second in the 5A girls 400 in 57.06 seconds. That was more than a second behind Lung, who set the meet record with her time of 55.87.

Sandpoint's Mikhaela Woodward placed second in the 4A girls 800 in 2:23.74 and third in the 1,600 in 5:16.93.

Woodward's second-place finish was her fourth runner-up finish at state, and capped a strong distance running career. She took the race out fast, eventually getting passed by two runners on the final turn, before reeling one of them in with a great kick.

In the 1,600, she again stepped up to push the pace in a slow-paced race into the wind, ultimately finishing third to grab a familiar spot on the state podium.

"The mile went out slower than expected and at the end of lap two she jumped in the lead and took over," described Sandpoint distance running coach Angie Brass. "She gave it everything she had the last 200. To the wall, all she could give. She ran two great races today."

Rocky Mountain won the 5A girls 4x200 relay in a time of 1:43.37 with second-place Lake City (1:44.02) and third-place Coeur d'Alene (1:45.11) close behind. Coeur d'Alene also had a third-place finish (49.73) in the 4x100 - Lake City placed fourth (50.08) - and Coeur d'Alene again placed third in the 4x400 (3.58.68).

The state meet was the final event for Lanker, who is retiring from high-school coaching. The 59-year-old Lanker will continue to coach hurdles at Community Colleges of Spokane.

"It was a great way to end with five girls getting Division I scholarships," Lanker said. "It was a good way for me to end my high school career."

Other athletes who earned medals by finishing among the top six:

5A boys: Lake City's Kyler Little in the 1,600 (sixth, 4:20.97), Alex Ayers in the 400 (sixth, 50.90) and the 4x100 relay team (fifth, 44.0)

5A girls: Lake City's Keara Simpson in the discus (fifth, 114-10) and Coeur d'Alene's Taryn Horvath in the 100 (sixth, 12.68)

4A boys: Lakeland's Jeremy Frisk (fourth, 22.72) and Auston Henry (sixth, 23.04) both placed in the 200 and the school's 4x200 boys relay team was fourth in 1:32, while Sandpoint's Mark Kennaly placed in the 400 (fifth, 51.23)

4A girls: Sandpoint's Hannah Davidson in the 800 (fifth, 2:24.74) and Maddie Schoening in the long jump (fifth, 16-1 3/4).