Division 1:
10 - and nearly 11 (sorry Philip Henry) - broke the 16-minute barrier in the final varsity boy's race of the day.
A torrid early pace set the tone for what would be the fastest race of the day. Rock Canyon's Chris Theodore patiently waited for his moment among a stellar field that included Eaglecrest's Mason Brown and and Rock Canyon teammate Easton Allred. But when the race came down to a final kick, there was no stopping Theodore, who blitzed the course in 15:23.
The battle for second was nearly as hot, as Brown and Allred took the race to the line, both finishing in 15:24 with the nod going to Brown. Behind the chaos Denver East senior Harrison Scudamore also dipped under 15:30, finishing in 15:28. The entire top 10 broke 16.
Rock Canyon's unbeatable 1-2 punch played a vital role in the team race, as Rock Canyon and Mountain Vista ran a tight race. It was a race close enough to leave everyone guessing who took the title, but when the results were printed, a tiny but important two-point finish made the difference.
Rock Canyon took the title with 63 points, just ahead of Mountain Vista's 65 points. While the latter team went 5-9-13-17-21 with a 40-second team difference for a solid team race, Rock Canyon's 1-2 punch proved to be the difference.
Rounding out the scoring for Rock Canyon was Derek Fearon, AJ Bishop, and Wesley Beckham, who finished 10th, 14th, and 35th, respectively.
Siles and Mountain Vista dominate
Legacy sophomore Brynn Siles has been on a rampage this season, and Friday's race was no different. Siles made quick work of her competition and proved why she's the best runner in the state - as just a sophomore.
The sophomore dominated another sophomore - Mountain Vista's Jenna Fitzsimmons by 18 seconds, running the fastest time of the day in 17:29.
Fitzsimmons' finish of 17:47 led teammate Caroline Eck to a 17:49 third-place finish, which played a large role in the team race. Both of those finishes played an important role in the overall team scoring.Two of the best teams in the country battled at full-strength for the title of cross country queens of Colorado.
The Super Bowl-like matchup of Mountain Vista and Broomfield lit the sidelines on fire, as everyone wanted to see who'd come out on top. It was clear this would be a two-team race for the title - no one else could compete.
On this day it was Mountain Vista who claimed the top of the mountain. The Golden Eagles ran like one of the country's best teams - they stacked four runners in the top-10, and their fifth wasn't far behind in 14th - all under 18:35.
And so, the Golden Eagles dominated the team race with a top-heavy squad to down Broomfield 35-76.
Sarah O'Sullivan, Madison Reed, Makenna Anderson rounded out Mountain Vista's scoring.
Behind Mountain Vista and Broomfield was Rock Canyon, who finished a distance third with 203 points.