LAKEWOOD — When the husband-wife coaching tandem of Ben and Meggie Kirk took over Coal Ridge track in 2006, it was a bare-bones program at a new school on the western slope.

But the Kirks had a blueprint that morphed Coal Ridge into a perennial Class 3A power. The Titans girls won the program’s first title last year, and are in contention to repeat again at this weekend’s state meet at Jeffco Stadium.

“We’ve seen it grow each year from the first year, when there were 17 kids on the whole team,” head coach Ben Kirk said. “We went from just trying to qualify someone to state, to trying to qualify a team, to trying to place a team, to top five as a team, to winning a couple individual events.

“In 2013 and ’14 our boys were second two years in a row, so that was our first, ‘We’re there.’ Getting to see that progression has been so cool. It feels like we have really worked and built that, and obviously having athletes with God-given talent helps.”

Coal Ridge’s headliner is senior Peyton Garrison, a Montana State commit who won four state titles last year and is expected to add four more this year in the 100 meters, 200, 400 and one of the relays (either the 4×400 or the 4×800 medley, wherever the Kirks decide to put her for the finals). Garrison set the state record in the 400 during Thursday’s preliminaries with a time of 54.71 seconds.

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