Top 10 Cross Country Stories of 2016: #5


Mountain Vista and Palmer Ridge shared a stunning moment in the California spotlight back in September. 

In some respects, though not in all, it was the high point of the Colorado high school cross country season. 

September 17, 2016. A Colorado delegation makes its way to the Woodbridge Invitational in Norco, California. Although it comess a bit early in the California season, there's plenty to be said for the competitiveness of this meet.

And this year two Colorado teams stole all the thunder. And I do mean all of it. Mountain Vista and Palmer Ridge made the trip and blew out the competition, competition that included eventual NXN teams Great Oak (6th) and Southlake Carroll (11th).

Mountain Vista finished with 99 points and Palmer Ridge with 111. Great Oak finished a distant third with 151 points. Almost unbelievably, Mountain Vista and Palmer Ridge both beat Great Oak at scoring positions one through four. 

Both Mountain Vista and Palmer Ridge beat Southlake Carroll at positions two through five, ceding ground only to Southlake Carroll's front runner Reed Brown. 

Four Mountain Vista, Joshua Romine, Carter Dillon, Parker Mackay, and Christopher Lovejoy each finished the pancake-flat course in under 15 minutes. Andrew Lester, Jeremy Meadows, Andrew Rudnicki, and Ryan Matson did the same for Palmer Ridge.

For one glorious moment, it was possible to believe Colorado had two of the most elite boys teams in the nation. And, for that moment, we probably did. But, we proved unable to hold onto it.

Regrettably, neither team was able to put the lightning back into the bottle for later use. Mountain Vista, though still a very good team, struggled from this point forward in the season. Palmer Ridge went on to win a crushing 4A state title but came apart at Nike Cross Southwest. The Bears went home with their dreams of running at NXN dashed.