Mountain Vista's Tyler Matzke and Horizon's Luk Platil hit the incoming stream crossing together. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
It's hard not to like Mountain Vista cross country. What's not to like about a team that puts in big miles, that frequents IHOP after summer morning training runs, stays mostly clear of hard-surface fast courses, has a crazy loyal following in neon green t-shirts, remains unflinchingly patient in big races, and is coached by guys like Eric Selle and Jonathan Dalby?
And, guess what? Good guys do finish first. Mountain Vista is making a ritual of it. Need a favorite for next year? Try Mountain Vista--Tyler Matzke is the only graduating scoring runner on this team.
For the third year in a row, Mountain Vista proved themselves kings of Hodgson Hill and all the vast domain visible from its lofty summit. The margin of victory was not quite as large this year as last, but still sufficiently large to dismiss the skeptics. Mountain Vista outpointed the boys from Fort Collins, 114 to 156 to secure this year's 5A boys state title.
On a tough course, under conditions of dessicating heat and pounding sunlight, Mountain Vista got it done without major lapses. Tyler Matzke and Paxton Smith exchanged their usual places at the front of the pack. Addison Hellier, Alex Fu, and Josh Romine came up big in places 3, 4, and 5.
Most importantly, perhaps, Mountain Vista managed to do several things no other team in the field could do. Mountain Vista put five guys through the timing mats before anyone else had four through. And, only Fort Collins had three sipping on cups on cold water before before Mountain Vista was done scoring. No other team had more than three runners under 18 minutes; Mountain Vista had five. And Mountain Vista did all of this without benefit of any state medalists on their team. Matzke's 15th-place finish got things started for Mountain Vista.
The domination was simple and complete. Great teams do it that way. It's becoming hard to believe anything other than that Mountain Vista has emerged as one of Colorado's all-time great teams. Try to recall the last time a boys team in Colorado's largest classification won three consecutive titles, then start booking your summer reservations for your nearest IHOP. Make sure, however, that you have a critical mass of boys willing to show up.
Whatever the details of the plan might be, the Mountain Vista plan works.
The individual race ended up as lopsided as the team affair. After pushing the pace and staking an early lead, Pine Creek's Zach Alhamra saw his race became one of the day's casualties. Alhamra would fade to 75th place and 18:29.
Once Alhamra dropped off the pace late in the race, there was simply nobody in sight to chase down Pomona senior Marcelo Laguera. Laguera logged his second victory in as many tries this season on the NPEC/BCRP course with a time of 16:19.4. Thornton's Joshua Joseph and Rampart's Ben Dingman were a distant second and third, respectively.
Team scoring revealed how dismissive 5A can be of polling data. Of the top 10 5A boys teams in the final coaches poll, only six managed to grab top-ten finishes at the state meet. Making substantial inroads as unranked teams were Coronado (6th), Rampart (7th), Smoky Hill (8th), and Arvada West (10th). Of these, probably Rampart made the biggest statement for next year. Robert Young's Rams bring back all five scoring runners for next year.
