At one mile, Kaleigh Kroeker had successfully created separation between herself and all pursuit. Photo by Alan Versaw.
While few people were openly expressing doubt that Zachary Alhamra would win the 5A Region 5 boys crown, there was a good deal more uncertainty about the girls crown.
Kaleigh Kroeker, of course, was on the short list of possibles, but so also were names like Allie Chipman, Savanna Dalton, and Kroeker's own teammate Athena Kuehn.
But when Kroeker surged to the lead early in the race nobody with willing to go shoulder-to-shoulder with the Pine Creek senior. And, pretty quickly, what had been anticipated as a strong individual contest turned into a rout. Kroeker's 18:44 put her 20 seconds ahead of Chipman, and was substantially further ahead of the rest of the field.
And, when Natalie Kalin and Athena Kuehn crossed the finish line in third and fourth, the much-anticipated team showdown between Pine Creek and Mountain Vista began to wither on the ...