EAGLE – With a 540 degree spin Saturday morning, Pocatello’s Destiny Harris launched not only her discus, but also a fruitful campaign by the Indians on the final day of the 4A track and field state championships at Eagle High School.

The final charge placed Poky third in the boys team standings and fifth in the girls team standings, marking the second consecutive season that both squads placed in the top five and outpaced their District 5 cohorts.

Harris’ gold medal-winning throw gave Pocatello the first of four first-place finishes Saturday. The senior rocketed the discus for a personal-best 145 feet, 1 inch, nearly 17 feet longer than the rest of the field.

“It just means I gave it all I had in my last year at Poky,” said Harris, who also placed second in the shot put after winning the event last year. “I just thought to myself that this will be the last time I will ever get to throw in a Pocatello uniform, so I had go out with a big bang.”

Harris had already won a 4A District 4-5 championship in discus, but had not yet won state gold and was following a ninth-place distance of 110-6 at last year’s state championships.

“I just feel like I don’t get in my head as much,” Harris said. “I calm myself down and I don’t freak out as much as when I was younger.”

After her throws, Harris huddled with Pocatello throwing coach Sandy Steffensen, who has witnessed an improvement in confidence and consistency in Harris over time. But what has gotten the thrower over the top is her positive attitude, said her coach, who couldn’t have been happier that that Harris won gold.

PHOTOS: Track and field state championships, day 2

“I can’t think of anybody that deserves it more,” Steffensen said. “She’s an amazing girl. She works hard. She’s a fabulous teammate. She encourages everyone around her and wants them to do just as good as she’s doing. She’s just a great kid.”

After Harris’ event, her teammates Madi Zink and Dallin Bird rode the momentum with first-time glory at state.

“When I saw Destiny do well this morning, it really got me going,” Zink said. “It makes me think, ‘OK, my turn.’ It makes you want to keep the momentum going and represent Pocatello really, really well.”

Zink, overcome with emotion, dropped to the ground after crossing the finish line with a top time of 14.16 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.

“I’ve just been working so hard for this all year,” Zink said. “It all built up to this moment, and in that moment, it just like all fell into place. You can’t really describe how it feels.”

The Poky junior followed it up by winning the 300 hurdles, crossing the finish line in 43.66 to beat second-place runner Lauren Elwer of Bishop Kelly by .6 seconds.

The performances come after the Century transfer placed second in the 100 hurdles and eighth in the 300 hurdles at state last season. She went through a long list of daily commitments to her craft that allowed her to break through this year, starting with getting up at 5 a.m. to lift weights or swim.

“It just was so much work,” Zink said. “But I feel like this weekend is what it all comes down to. And if you’re willing to put in that work, it pays off and shows in big ways. I’m just glad I stuck to it the whole time.”

Pocatello’s Bird and Shane Gard also found success, finishing first and second, respectively, in the 1,600-meter race. Bird finished with a time of 4:17.47 – .68 seconds faster than Gard – to win gold at state for the first time of his career.

“He just has something carrying him through those last 100 meters that just makes him push as hard as he can to get first place,” Gard said. “He’s unstoppable.”

After the duo completed the race, Bird sprinted toward Gard for a big embrace.

“We’ve seen each other progress through the two years with each other and we’re just happy when each other succeeds,” Gard said. “If one of us loses to each other, it’s not a big deal because we know that we’ve been working very hard and we’re just grateful to have each other on the same team and be able to work with each other.”

Century’s De’Qua Lang wins shot put

All the work applied in the shot put over two years by De’Qua Lang led up to Saturday, when he unleashed the best throw of his career with a personal-best distance of 56-feet-8.5-inches to win the event at the 4A state championships at Eagle High School.

The junior blew away the competition, winning by 3 feet, 5 inches.

“Feeding off the energy of everyone else around me, I just used that energy to pick me up and get me fired up,” Lang said. “I knew as soon as I let it go, that was it, that was the throw and it felt great just coming out of my hands. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I just did that,’ so it was pretty fun.”

Lang was the only Diamondback to win gold and helped guide the Century boys to a 10th-place finish, while the girls team finished 24th.

The junior is in his second year of shot put. He arrived at Century from Columbia, South Carolina, a month before what would have been his freshman season in track and field, but he didn’t pass it up when given a second opportunity as a sophomore.

“I came here and the coaches everywhere – track, wrestling, football – they all got me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things,” Lang said. “My coaches have led me in the right direction to be great, so I give it to my coaches.”

Another multi-sport Century athlete found success of his own in Deshun Harwell, who ended his high school athletic career with a fourth-place finish in the long jump, leaping 20 feet, 8 inches. Not bad for his one and only season of track and field at the prep level.

“Kind of surprised me a little bit,” Harwell said of medaling. “I was just really doing this to get faster for football and stuff, but toward the middle of the season I just kind of grew with the sport.”

Harwell will start training with the College of Idaho football team by mid-June, but now sounds like someone who wishes he had experienced track and field longer after learning of the joys of the sport.

“It’s really fun. I wish I had done it since freshman year or earlier on,” Harwell said. “Just encourage everyone if they have the chance to do track, do it.”

VIDEO: 4A T&F state championships