Madelynn Gerritsen, one of eight freshmen to medal at state this year, explodes off the start line. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
For girls cross-country in Colorado 2015 meant the exit of one of it's best. Katie Rainsberger finished her career at the Norris-Penrose Event center with two runner up finishes, two individual titles, and a team championship.
No doubt Rainsberger's graduation will leave a void, but, have no fear, 2015 also brought in one of the strongest female freshman classes in recent history.
This year, freshmen finishing in the top ten in each division combined for eight of the 40 podium places. That may not seem like a large amount, but it is the largest total by a margin of at least two athletes since 2010 when nine freshmen girls stood atop the state podium at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds--a class that included the likes of Claire Green, Miriam Roberts, Natalie Anderson, and Elise Cranny.
Freshmen started early on Saturday with Chloe Veilleux of Soroco and Maya Ordonez of Telluride placing 6-7 in 2A. Ordonez finished second for Telluride behind sophomore third-place finisher Soleil Gaylord.
Telluride beat Heritage Christian by three points for the state championship, and the Miners do not graduate a single member of their scoring three.
"It's super exciting. I can't wait until next year and my senior year," said Gaylord in regards to the potential of the young Telluride group.
3A as a division saw the most dramatic performances by freshmen, as Quinn McConnell and Anna Shults of Peak to Peak went 1-2 running 18:41.1 and 18:50.7, respectively.
McConnell showed her race experience even as a freshman by mentally keeping the pressure off of herself and trying to have the race play to her strengths. "I knew it would pretty much just be me and Lily [Tomasula-Martin], and I knew if it came to it I could outkick her. So I just had to stay mentally tough."
Similar to her teammate, Shults also runs smart thanks to the sport running in the family. "My parents own Runners Roost and they are kind of in the running business," said Shults. "It's not just them that inspires me, but my coaches, and everybody that I watch. Quinn inspires me. It became my love and my passion."
Tiana Bradfield, the Pumas' fifth runner at state, is also a freshman, as the 3A state runners-up lose only one scorer to graduation.
Madelynn Gerritsen of Platte Canyon also landed on the podium as a freshman taking sixth.
Off of the podium Salida freshman Cecilia Kastner placed 12th (scoring 10) as the tail runner in the Spartan pack of four that always seems to end up somewhere near the front.
Salida team leader Sydney Fesenmeyer appreciated Kastner's presence in the program.
"She just came in and fell right into place with the rest of us. As you can see, she's right in the pack. So it was a great thing to get a freshman in there, so she'll be here for the next couple years. We're losing quite a few seniors, so it's good to have some young blood in there," said Fesenmeyer.
Kastner's race played a major role in sending Salida's seniors, including Fesenmeyer, out on top.
Three seasons ago the Air Academy Kadets took third in the State behind a second place performance of an immensely talented freshman Katie Rainsberger. The following season the team would take sixth, and then dropped to 13th at the state meet Rainsberger's junior year.
This year the team and Rainsberger were revitalized by the energy of freshman Paige Embaugh. After the race Rainsberger said Embaugh's presence set this race apart from the previous seasons.
"Having Paige here with me today was really special," said Rainsberger.
Rainsberger has been a leader on every course she has raced on in Colorado for two season. This year season, for Embaugh, Rainsberger's role was also a great leader to the freshman.
"It has been the most amazing experience that I could have ever asked for. I am so happy for her to be my teammate," said Embaugh after the race.
Embaugh's sixth place performance was just behind another freshman, Chantae Steele of TCA.
Mountain Vista has stood atop 5A boys scene for four seasons. This fall, the Vista Nation girls have began to follow suit.
"The girls, I think, are finally at the point where they have closed the gap on the boys," said coach Jonathan Dalby. "They have been in the shadow for a little while, and this year they kind of got tired of it. Hopefully they are going to keep improving and keep being competitive here at the state meet."
Sophomore runner Allie Chipman ran paced the team with a fourth-place finish, while Vista runner Caroline Eck took sixth and was the only freshman in the top ten in 5A. The performance exceeded Eck's own expectations.
"I was hoping for top 20, at best," said Eck. "I was really nervous beforehand, but as the event got closer I realized just to have fun and do the best that I could do."
Eck and Mountain Vista will be worth watching as Coach Dalby's squad only loses their fifth runner to graduation.
While Eck claimed the only top ten performance by a freshman, fifth-place team Coronado and state champion Broomfield have rosters that are entirely populated by underclassmen, assuring quantity competition among the large school programs for seasons to come.
Greg Weich, coach of the victorious Broomfield Eagles, hopes state competition will be a stepping-stone for something greater.
"We're going to NXR in Arizona of course. I feel like we have some nice upside there… we're just going to go and try and run a nice, clean race. I have huge hope for them in a couple of years, however. You know, if Creek was truly ranked in the 15-20 range nationally I don't see any reason with some development we can't be a national-level program in two years," said Weich.
Broomfield fourth runner Mckenzie Gaines (photo, left, by Alan Versaw) felt very welcomed by the team, and worked well with coach Weich to achieve at a high level as a freshman.
"Greg is a great coach. He makes sure we all understand what's happening. It's very fun, you can always hear him on the course. You could be like 500 meters away and be like, 'Oh, there's Greg up there.'"
Gaines wound up 27th overall and was a big part of the reason Broomfield was hoisting a large trophy at the end of the day.