Never underestimate how contentious things get on a Liberty Bell start line. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
Some things went according to form. And some things did not.
Some questions were answered. And some questions were raised.
Lots of people ran fast. Very few people ran slow.
Probably the biggest single question waiting to be answered out of Liberty Bell was how the girls team showdown between Cherry Creek, Fort Collins, and Monarch would play out. Without a doubt, Monarch owned that one. We could dissect the explanation of that one all week long--and it likely does deserve some dissection--but the bald truth of the matter is that Monarch obliterated everyone. And very few people, myself included, saw anything like this coming. Fort Collins, who dropped to fourth, may have a time of soul-searching ahead of them.
As a tagalong to that discussion, we must mention that Monarch beat everyone from Colorado in the boys division, too. Having Isaac Green and Tyger Roch finish 1-2 certainly gets you off to a great start. But maybe the bigger story is Albuquerque Academy coming back and winning this thing a year after being disqualified for excessive celebration in the finish chute. The Chargers, evidently, have long memories and came with some redemption on their minds.
Before leaving the subject of D1, let's mention Isaac Green's amazing win in the boys race, Lauren Gregory, okay, we expected that. Isaac Green? Well, nobody will ever accuse him of being just an 8/16 guy any more. Admittedly, Liberty Bell is a fast track, but you don't win at 5K solely with 8/16 speed. And it was a solid field pushing him all the way to the finish line.
Pine Creek swept the D2 individual titles, with Zachary Alhamra posting a sub-15 for the fastest time of the day in any division. Kaleigh Kroeker stunned a few folks with the girls win. Teammate Athena Kuehn, who has twice beaten Kroker this season, finished third. Maybe experience counts at Liberty Bell?
But, in a fascinating turn of events, Mountain View takes the D2 girls title from Pine Creek by a single point. Have we been underestimating the Mountain Lions? It is clear, though, that Pine Creek was short a runner or two. Injuries don't take a break--not even for Liberty Bell.
And, how about a shout out to Cheyenne Mountain for their D2 boys title. Isn't this the same team that got taken down by Battle Mountain last weekend? Different courses. Different outcomes.
D3 boys. Evergreen put up a great fight, but Laramie just has too many weapons.
D3 girls. Last year, Scottsbluff came away with the individual title but not the team title. That flip-flopped this year. Evergreen once again put up a great fight, but this year Bearcats > Cougars.
D4 girls. Lily Tomasula-Martin answered a bunch of questions today. There was nothing flukish about her wins earlier in the season. Now the question would seem to be--can she go through an unbeaten season? Kent Demver took the team title, but did you happen to notice Heritage Christian Academy in second? That qualifies as a "Holy Cow!" moment. I'm sure the rest of 2A has taken due notice.
D4 boys, What Kiah Leonard couldn't quite do, Luke Spitz could--take an individual title back home to Berthoud. But Berthoud was well away from the team title. That honor went to Frontier Academy with 18 points to Berthoud's 82 (scoring four).
Meet Results (and eventually meet photos)
and more coverage coming tomorrow...