Maggie Smith and Samrawit Dishon lead Niwot to a perfect 15.
Maggie Smith and Samrawit Dishon ran stride for stride over the thick green grass, just like they had through the first mile and a half of the Pat Patten Invite. The Flatirons loomed to the west, as forever fateful watchers of Boulder's running scene. While down below The Battle of Boulder was looking like anything but.
Taylor James hovered nearly 20 meters behind Smith and Dishon. And then there was Layla Roebke. And then there was Joelle McDonald.
And for reassurance, freshman Eva Klingbeil was just outside the top 10.
There were five white singlets with bold, green lettering "NIWOT" across the front taking the first five spots of the girl's varsity race. While most spectators and coaches would be counting each team's first five runners with hopes of tallying up a rough estimate of the team score, Niwot was making it easy for everyone in Boulder to know what the team score would be here.
Nearly everyone gawked at the idea of visitors just outside Boulder city limits coming in and sweeping the meet, but there was a temporary hiccup within this sight of perfection when Katie Hooten, and Marlena Preigh surged hard within the second mile in attempts to disrupt Niwot's perfect day, and Roebke began to feel the affects of the hot pace.
But it wouldn't last.
The No. 11 team in the country proved their ranking, as Klingbeil stormed intro the top 10, and into the top five to give Niwot a perfect, and very rare, 15 points in one of the most competitive meets of the weekend.
When the dust had settled and everyone had a moment to catch their breath and realize what just happened, the results read Niwot 1-2-3-4-5, led by Smith and Dishon, who both ran 19:10. James was third in 19:24, while Klingbeil's huge kick landed her fourth in 19:38, just ahead of teammate McDonald, who finished in 19:39.
There wasn't a cloud in the bright blue sky Saturday morning. And the perfection in the sky reflected the perfection Niwot had just raged on the course.
15 points...
Fossil Ridge's Lena Fogarty was the closest to disrupting Niwot's perfection, finishing sixth in 19:41.
Behind Niwot's perfection, Fossil Ridge finished second with 88 points, while Centaurus finished third with 102 points.
While Niwot was raging over the course in the individual and team competition, another notable performance came out of 2A No. 1 Lyons. Katie Fankhouser and Quin Gregg finished 12th and 13th, running 19:53, and 19:53. Lyons went stride for stride with the big schools, finishing 10th overall, and a clear No. 1 among 2A schools.
Next Page: Culpepper and Reading go 1-2, Centaurus with the upset...