Josh Welo gave a promising preview of the future of Chaparral cross country late Monday afternoon. Colorado Track XC file photo by Alan Versaw.
The future of Chaparral cross country looks a little brighter this morning.
Though already enjoying a standout freshman campaign, Josh Welo went back to the table for seconds and came away with a runaway title in the freshman boys race at the annual Overland Freshman/Sophomore Championships.
Welo's winning time of 17:53.7 bettered the second-place effort of Cherry Creek's Abreham Anderson by nearly ten seconds.
And, Chaparral was far from done when Welo crossed the line. Backing up Welo in positions 3 through 5 of the scoring tally were Ace Downs, Rhys Arstingstall, and Carter Struhs. That's a nice looking class of freshman boys the Wolverines have.
Perhaps motivated by Chaparral's domination in the freshman race, SkyView Academy one-upped Chap in the sophomore boys race by taking each of the first four places. Thos places belonged to familiar varsity faces Jimmy Scavuzzo, Tristan Lee, Ryan Butler, and Jordon Wilson.
If you're wondering, "Doesn't SVA have a regional coming up later this week," well, yes they do. But, they also went nearly back-to-back with flying colors at the Pat Amato FR/SO and the 3A Metro League week not so very long ago. This is a demonstrated formula the Hawks are banking on.
Count on seeing lots more of these guys over the next two years.
The first four finishers of the freshman girls race came over a span of seven seconds. Cherry Creek's Gabrielle DeMaio grabbed first at 22-flat. Teammate Asha Patt was five seconds back in third. Between them was Dakota Ridge's Mariso Bruno, and right behind them was TCA's Claire Cerniglia.
Madison Floyd won the sophomore girls title under the colors of Prospect Ridge Academy, a school not yet eligible for CHSAA post season competition. Floyd ran well ahead of Niwot's Caitlin Hyers in second.
As so often happens at this meet, the team titles scattered to the four winds. Chaparral and SkyView Academy, of course, took the freshman and sophomore boys titles, respectively. Freshman girls went to Cherry Creek, and sophomore girls to Niwot.