Top Moment of the Meet (2)
Battle Mountain Girls Dominate
On the 'no surprise here' front, the Battle Mountain girls rocked the team title -- 27 points. Durango placed second with 46. Right from the gun, Soleil Gaylord made her intentions clear; she was looking for the win.
Soroco's Chloe Veilleux followed, determined to keep Gaylord her in her sights. Not too far behind at the mile marker, the team race was just getting under way as Battle Mountain's Elizabeth Constien, Alex Raichart, Lizzy Harding, and Kaela Fahrney were keeping close company with Durango's Abby Scott, Madeleine Burns, Sarah Smagacz, and Bekah Moenning. As the race erupted from under the shade of the trees of the back loop with 1000 meter to go, not much had changed with the exception that the chase pack was starting to string out a bit, in the favor on the black clad Huskies.
Battle Mountain put the hammer down in the closing half mile, with Constien and Harding catching and passing Veilleux. Gaylord's lead was quickly diminishing, but she was able to cross the line, mission accomplished, in first place in 18:51, with Constien in 18:53 and Harding 18:54 close behind.
Raichart, freshman Burns, and Fahrney would cross next. Crested Butte's Maria O'Neal would be the only interruption of the sea of black and red in the top ten after Gaylord.