Julie Eoff led the Smoky Hill girls to a solid team title at the Aurora City meet. Colorado Track XC file photo by Alan Versaw.
Before anyone else got started on the 2015 season, Aurora settled their city championships. Well, sort of.
Some schools were running less than full-varsity squads in view of other meets coming up this weekend, while Overland and Grandview didn't even show up due to scheduling conflicts. So, this year's Aurora City meet had a little more of a subdued field than some of its predecessors.
Eaglecrest front runners Janine Taurchini and George Rykovich took the individual titles, Rykovich by a mere two seconds over Spencer Bradshaw of Smoky Hill, and Taurchini by a substantial gap of 45 seconds over Julie Eoff, also of Smoky Hill.
The Raptors, however, didn't have the scoring punch in line to back up their individual titles with team titles.
The boys team title went to a somewhat surprising Cherokee Trail team. A 4-5-8-9-10, led by Jackson Cowley and Kyle Stafford, was more than sufficient to subdue this field.
Smoky Hill posted a 2-3-6-7-11 to finish the deed on the girls side. Eoff was trailed by teammate Carlie Andrie in third to pace the Buffalo stampede.
Reports from on-site suggest that long grass and the suspicion of a long course may have put a damper on the times. Only 14 of 50 varsity boys racing managed sub-20 times. Only two of 43 varsity girls racing managed sub-22s.