At the midway point of the race Katie Rainsberger and Lauren Gregory were running shoulder to shoulder, but a major change was in the offing. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Saturday's Brooks/TCA Titan Thunder marked for Lauren Gregory her fourth consecutive match-up against one of the three acknowledged leading ladies of Colorado high school cross country. In this case, four times is the charm. Three races to learn; one race to pass the test with flying colors. If you hadn't already, count Gregory among the leading ladies.
And, find some room on the stage, for now there are four leading ladies.
Before the race was 400 meters old, Rainsberger had Gregory in her tow and the two, though clearly separated from the field, were nevertheless pulling the field through at a wicked pace (the first chase group hit the mile in the low 5:40s--Rainsberger and Gregory were at least 10 seconds ahead at that point, and very possibly more than that).
It wasn't long before Gregory tired of...
