Top Moments of the Meet (1)
With much anticipation given the national significance, the high school girls race set off at 9:00 am on a clear, crisp, fall day fittingly contested at Denver's running mecca - Washington Park. Pre-meet indications and chatter were that Mountain Vista, ranked 9th nationally, and Broomfield, ranked 25th nationally, would be stacking their line-ups for this day.
A one hundred percent grass track (a rarity in Colorado) consisting of a multi-loop, criterium-style racing course fashioned after European style cross country racing greeted the competitors.
Broomfield's Katelyn Mitchem, known for her front-running tactics, shot swiftly to the front. Mitchem built a five to six second lead on the field by 800 meters and held that position through the first mile. In a small pack chasing her were two of her teammates, Madison Mooney and Ivy Gonzales, and Cherry Creek's Devon Peterson.
Mitchem began to suffer a little from her strong early pace and the thick wet grass still evaporating the morning dew. Entering the second mile Gonzalez made a charge toward the front with Mooney and Peterson in tow. After passing Mitchem, Gonzales opened a gap of her own on the field. Broomfield's coach Greg Weich was pumping up his charges at the halfway point as they were running 1-2-3 when they passed by him.
Back in the pack was Jonathan Dalby's Vista Nation crew, moving pack style up and through the throng. Still smarting from some injuries and illness, Vista was being led in a controlled manner once again by their freshman duo of Jenna Fitzimmons and Sarah O'Sullivan. Sticking to them were Elizabeth Constien and Lizzy Harding of Battle Mountain, undoubtedly enjoying 2500 less feet of elevation.
Late into the final mile it appeared that Gonzales would take this one. Madison Mooney, however, mustered one last charge to overtake her teammate in the final 400 meters becoming the third and final Eagle to lead on the day. Mooney, a sub-5 miler, put ten seconds on Gonzales in that stretch stopping the clock at 19:06. Peterson finished strong for 3rd in 19:20. Constien and Harding bracketed Fitzsimmons and O'Sullivan, taking places 4th through 7th.
The next few moments were tension-packed, as it was obvious that Mountain Vista had made a late race charge. Early leader Mitchem held on gamely and importantly in 8th as she was followed by Madison Reed and Zoe Simmons of Mountain Vista. Appropriately it came down to the fifth runner, and even then the winning team was determined by a lean at the line. Broomfield's Emily Zerr, a JV runner just a few weeks ago, was 16th in 20:20, while Vista's Jessica Nats was 17th in - you guessed it - 20:20! That moment right there produced the narrowest of victories for Broomfield, 46-47. A fitting outcome for these two evenly matched, well-coached, national class programs that haven't seen the last of each other.
Battle Mountain showed well on the day in third, followed by Palmer Ridge and Cherry Creek rounding out the top five.