Liberty Bell: Never a dull day

Some things--like the domination of the New Mexico boys--played out according to expectations. Other things did not.

In the Division 1 boys contest, it was all New Mexico as Albuquerque Academy (72) and Los Alamos (114) easily outpaced Regis Jesuit (169), the third-place team and top finisher from Colorado. The NM teams were able to dominate even despite a 1-4 finish by the Nicolls brothers, Bobby and Danny, of Regis.

There were a series a less predictable outcomes, however. The most noteworthy of these, though we could debate exactly how surprising it was, was Denver North's Joseph Manilafasha (at left- photo courtesy of Micah Porter) turning in the best time of the day. Manilafasha poured it on in the Divsion 3 race to win in 14:56, 40 seconds ahead of his closest competition in that race and 10 seconds ahead of Bobby Nicolls for the fastest time of the day. For his part, Nicolls edged Gareth Gilna of Los Alamos 15:06 to 15:08 for the Division 1 boys title. The Division 2 title went to Dart Schwaderer (celebrating his title, at right--photo courtesy of Micah Porter) of Wheat Ridge in 15:14.