The Race and the Race within the Race
It didn't take long for the race within the race to start blossoming at the front.
From the south side of the start line, first Aidyn Woodall, then Alayna Szuch powered their way to the front of the field.
Woodall was advertising what was on her mind, wearing a white shirt with a black numeral 1 easily visible above her bib number. Szuch undoubtedly had the same aspirations, but didn't wear her targeted finish on her clothing.
Through the middle half of the race, neither Woodall nor Szuch could gain separation. But, as the race approached 2500 meters, Woodall's withering pace finally started earning her a gap on Szuch. That gap would grow over the final 1000 meters, and eventually total out as 20 seconds of difference between the two, Woodall winning in 12:07.
For those calculating, both Woodall and Szuch are seventh graders. There will be another year before we see either in the high school ranks.
Behind the pair way off the front end, the team battle was taking place. But, watching a middle school race is very little like watching a high school race.
A very large number of unattached runners makes keeping track of singlets tough. It's already tough enough when you realize there's probably nobody in the crowd of 5000 or so people who really recognizes more than 10 of the singlets of the 50 or so teams in the field. Oh, and did I mention trying to keep track of singlets with 50 teams in the field?
So, if you have a strong rooting interest in the event, you do a lot of holding of breath and hoping.
Evidently, the Preston Middle School (Fort Collins) parents were doing the best job of that. The same middle school that won the boys race last year upended the girls field this year. And, they won pretty soundly as well--134 points to 202 for second-place Summit Ridge. Third-place Erwin was another 47 points back.
If you've been following Fossil Ridge cross country this fall, you'll likely recognize the surname of Lena Fogarty, top runner on the Preston team. Fogarty finished her race in 13:47 and 19th place (11 points in the team scoring). A pack time of 1:11 off of Fogarty's lead brought a decisive title to the girls in purple shirts with teal lettering.