Like the boy's race, the girl's race was loaded with all the favorites through the opening mile.
Over a dozen girls cruised through the opening mile just under six minutes, eyeing each other, tracking each other, checking who was in the pack, and where.
It was a chess match for the ages, as there was no clear-cut favorite, or so it appeared.
The hills of the second mile sliced the lead pack in half, and then it became a one mile kick to the finish. Madeleine Burns, Joslin Blair, Samantha Blair, and Samrawit Dishon were all still in it as the quartet headed out for the final small loop, but the pace was heating up fast.
Samantha Blair and Dishon pressed hard and the final four began to string out. Burns dropped first, then Joslin Blair.
And then there were two...
Dishon put her stamp on the race just before entering the woods in the final 1200 meters of the race, but it wasn't over yet.
The Niwot senior pressed, and pressed, and pressed, but Samantha Blair wouldn't relent.
The gap between them went from inches, to a few feet, but Dishon couldn't shake Blair fully, as that invisible tether that connected them seemed like it wouldn't break.
Somewhere between the gentle turns within the woods the tether stretched as Dishon powered forward, trying to break free.
And then it happened.
In one tiny moment in time, Dishon was free, off and away across the creek. Up that quad-burning double-hill and into Penrose Stadium.
Dishon pumped hard down the final straight, 20 meters in front of Blair, who still had refused to throw in the towel, but she was running out of real estate.
The Niwot senior held on for her first state title, running 18:11, while Blair was just four agonizing seconds back in 18:15.
In wake of the scorching final mile, Joslin Blair kicked in for third in 18:27, just ahead of Burns, who finished fourth in 18:33, and Ella Johnson, who finished fifth in 18:37.
While the individual race went down to the final mile, the Niwot girls made no contest of the team competition.