Top 10 Cross Country Stories of 2016: #3

The 5A Boys crown came down to what seemed before the season a most improbable end.

The only sure things in life are death and taxes. Or so the lament goes.

But, this past summer you could have found several cross country fans around this state willing at add another boys state cross country title for Mountain Vista to that list. 

And, the five-peat got off to a very nice start. Despite missing a key runner or two, Mountain Vista was simply devastating through the early part of their schedule. 

Vista Nation rolled over Rock Canyon in Palmer Ridge in their opener at home. Two weeks later, and still short-handed, Mountain Vista prevailed again, though by a grand total of six points, over Monarch and Palmer Ridge at St. Vrain.

Any questions the St. Vrain performance might have raised were shattered by a dazzling triumph at Woodbridge, a win that included beating eventual NXN teams Great Oak and Southlake Carroll.

On September 17, Mountain Vista was still on top of the world. And perhaps even more so than they had ever been before.

But, back on September 10, Monarch learned something they didn't forget all season long. They learned they belonged in the same league with Mountain Vista.

There would be no more head-to-heads between Monarch and Mountain Vista during the regular season. And, it was probably better for Monarch that there weren't. 

The time apart gave Mountain Vista time to put some emotional distance between themselves and the close call at St. Vrain. The time apart gave Monarch a chance to get better without sending any signals directly at Mountain Vista. And Mountain Vista had plenty enough to think about with the threats they were seeing regularly from Rock Canyon.

So, when the state meet rolled around on October 29, what was freshest in the collective consciousness of Vista Nation was a league meet loss to Rock Canyon and a close scrape at the regional meet. When that's what the two most immediate weeks of your history look like, it's easy to push the threat from Monarch toward the aft chambers of your consciousness. 

Monarch, on the other hand, came into the state meet without any local rivalries cluttering their vision. The Coyotes had no scores to settle with Boulder, Fairview, or Broomfield. The Coyotes came with a clear and unobstructed vision of winning the state title. And, they knew it was within their reach. They could clutch it, but could they hold it?


Perhaps due to the heat, perhaps due to what was at state, and more likely a combination of the two, the race went out fairly conservatively. At two miles, absolutely nothing was decided. 

Though the runners on the course would have had no way of knowing it, Monarch held the lead, but Mountain Vista and Rock Canyon were both still very much in the hunt. For all intents and purposes, everyone else was eliminated.

Over the final 1.1 miles, Rock Canyon slid from the scene, losing 23 points of scoring. Both Monarch and Mountain Vista gained against the field over the same stretch. And, though Mountain Vista gained more, they did not gain enough to overtake Monarch. Monarch's lead, though threatened, remained intact.


At the finish line, the tally had Monarch with 88 and Mountain Vista 97. Mountain Vista had answered Isaac Greens 1 with a 2 from Joshua Romine, but had no effective rebuttal to the 3 posted by Charlie Perry. Therein lied the bulk of the difference between the two teams.

A four-year run of state domination came to an end, much earlier than most expected, and a new champion was crowned.