TOP MOMENTS OF THE MEET (1)
For Palmer Ridge and Monarch, the action was just as much in the chase pack as in the lead pack.
Mountain Vista beats Monarch by a single point, Palmer Ridge by five.
Nobody could have predicted beforehand how close this one would work out. And, at least two things stand out here:
- Monarch validates a piece of domination last week with a performances that puts them squarely on the heels of Mountain Vista.
- Palmer Ridge responds to the emerging threat from Silver Creek with a stirring performance of their own.
Ladies, and gentlemen, I think we can safely project the 4A and 5A state title races to be closer than any of us were thinking even a month ago.
Monarch's Isaac Green seemed to be coasting a little at the front (if 15:49 can be called coasting), and probably didn't have much more expected of him on the day than first place. The rest of the Monarch squad, however, seemed to be just a tad more intense. Charlie Perry picked up a fourth, while the combination of Litoff, Hibl, and Dixon scored 13-23-31.
We had hoped to see the full unveiling of Mountain Vista here, but it didn't quite happen. No Shayan Zarrin was present wearing Vista Nation green. And, Joshua Romine's finish in 17th seems just a bit ragged by last year's standards. So, clearly, this is not a Vista Nation team operating at 100%, but there's no guarantee they'll be at 100% at state either. What is clear out of this meet is that there's at least one team capable of giving Mountain Vista a fight.
Parker Mackay and Carter Dillon scored 7 and 8 for Vista Nation, but VN needs more from where that came from.
Palmer Ridge? They ran their hearts out and came achingly close to a major upset. Jeremy Meadows and Andrew Rudnicki were top 10 finishers. Andrew Lester, Ryan Matson, and Kieran Nay closed out the scoring, all well under 17.