Isa Marshall's second-place effort paved the way for a Denver East girls team title. Colorado Track XC file photo by Alan Versaw.
It was a great day to be an Angel. Other than dealing with a tough, hilly course, that is.
There was no surprises associated with either individual winner, but the margins of victory may have taken a few by surprise. Harrison Scudamore's 17:45 ran 1:13 ahead of Kennedy's Jacob Schipper in second. Yohanes Alem and Riverz Flores rounded out the top four. Kayla Young's 20:01 ran 1:29 ahead of Isa Marshall's second-place effort, and farther still ahead of Esmerelda Baltierra and Samantha Skeen in third and fourth.
And, with a top two finisher in both races, Denver East was well on their way to a matched set of meet titles. For the girls, East cut the 65 points of second-place Denver South nearly in half with a 2-5-7-9-10 effort.
How challenging is the Harvard Gulch course? All of 11 girls managed times under 25 minutes.
A comparable standard for the boys might be times under 20 minutes. In that case, once again, 11 boys met the qualifying standard.
Of those 11, three were Angels, and that was enough to keep Denver South in second by a margin of 43 to 54. It was a busy day for the number 11.