TOP MOMENT OF THE MEET (1)
With Mathilde Bernard having already executed her break, Allison Mann was still very deliberately biding her time.
Allison Mann bides her time before putting the field away.
There was a definite rotation of leaders in the 5A girls race of the CSML Championship. Taking the early lead, and actually looking a little surprised to be running in the front of the pack was Pine Creek's Athena Kuehn. The field patiently let Kuehn set the early pace and watched to see what she would do with it.
As often happens, though, patience found a finite limit. At least Mathilde Bernard's patience did. The Rampart senior surged smartly to the front of the field and looked, for most of the middle mile and into the third mile, to have put the race away.
Left unaccounted for in that assesment, however, would be Liberty's Allison Mann. Mann has taken over many a race early and pounded from the front. That was not her strategy this time around. But, once executed, Thursday's strategy was every bit as successful as many that have gone before. By the time Mann approached the finish line, she had opened a lead of better than 20 seconds on Bernard.
Bernard's teammate Kyla Ramsey had moved smartly into third. What might have been a sweep of the 5A titles for Rampart, however, was turned aside by a better pack time for Pine Creek's Eagles.
And, if you're wondering what 4A Pine Creek was doing in the 5A race, I believe it has everything to do with Pine Creek's league placement for team sports.