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celebrating top performances week after week...</h3>
Though pushed mercilessly by a pair of the best runners in the state, Lexi Reed and Paul Roberts emerged victorious in their respective races on Saturday. Contributed photo/Photo by Ashley Green.
With Zachary Alhamra and Eric Hamer setting the pace, the boys went through the first mile in 4:55. With a mile to go, Hamer began to fade back but Alhamra and Roberts stayed shoulder to shoulder. With 600 meters to go, Roberts made his move.
“At the end I just gave it my all,” Roberts said. “I never really thought I could win it. I thought I had a chance but I never thought I could actually do it. My legs and arms were numb during the last 200 meters.”
Roberts finished two seconds ahead of Alhamra with a truly impressive performance that shattered his school record cross country time of 15:44. “It was really exciting to get down to that time,” Roberts admitted, “I really surprised myself.”
Yet as all great athletes typically do, Roberts gives most of the credit to his success this weekend to his competition. “Zach and Eric were definitely key,” he said. “Alhamra led most of the race and took the pace out well. If he wouldn’t have been there, it would have been a lot harder. I gotta give it to him for taking it out hard. It was really fun racing with him, and he’s a really good competitor.”
Roberts is no stranger to victories. He is the reigning 2A cross country state championand is fresh off of wins in the 3200 and 1600 at the track and field state championships. As would be expected, Roberts has his hopes set high for what is to come from him this season.
“The big focus is on Nike Cross Regionals,” he suggested, “I’m really hoping to get to nationals this year. I just want to run the best races I can and set up well for that.”
Lexi Reed also found herself in a successful battle to the finish this weekend. The junior from D’Evelyn High School won the Centaurus Invitational on Saturday with a time of 18:17.1.
“I didn’t really know who was going to be in the race this year,” Reed allowed, “I showed up and saw Kayla Young from Denver North. Last week she beat me in the Arapahoe Warrior Invitational, and I knew she would be good competition. We were shoulder to shoulder the whole race.”
The race came down to a 300 meter sprint with Reed barely edging out Young by .2 seconds.
“When it came to the finish we were booking it,” Reed explained. “I couldn’t feel my legs, I was just going for it. We were so close I didn’t know who had won. I just heard a guy at the finish line shout ‘Green, purple,’ talking about our jersey colors. I was green so that’s how I knew I’d won it.”
Reed and Young finished with more than a twenty second lead over the rest of the pack. By most accounts, it was just a race between the two of them from the very beginning. “I’ve never been in a race like that before where you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with one other person the whole time,” Reed said. “It was helpful because we paced off of each other. I wouldn’t have been able to run that time without Kayla. It was really, really fun.”
Just over half way through her high school running career, Reed has already raked in some sweet stats. Last fall, during her first cross country season as a sophomore, Reed finished sixth in the 4A cross country championships and then followed up in her track season with 2nd and 5th place finishes at state in the 3200 and 1600.
Reed is already keeping the success rolling into this year’s season, and it should be another fast year for her. “I”ve been having a lot more success than I thought I would at this sport,” Reed admitted, “hopefully things will keep going as well as they are.”
For their exceptional performances and nail-biting victories, Colorado Track XC honors Paul Roberts and Lexi Reed as the athletes of the week. Both Roberts and Reed displayed this weekend how tough competition can be a huge performance advantage rather than a setback. We trust that all can be inspired by their example!