Story special to Colorado Track XC by Karen Birch In very close races at the Pat Amato Freshman/Sophomore Invitational in Northglenn on Tuesday, Thornton’s boys cross country team edged Loveland 55 to 62 and the Loveland girls nipped Pomona 74 to 78. In both races, team pack running proved successful for the leading teams. In the boys race, Loveland’s Tanner Roberts led a pack of four comprised of Rangeview’s Donivan Montoya and Thornton teammates Nick Robinson and Marco Barraza at 5:12. By mile two, Montoya faded slightly allowing the trio of Thornton runners (with Stephen Rodriguez a few seconds back) to solidify their team lead. At that point, Roberts began to gap the trio by 6 seconds with Legend’s Bryan Manley 9 seconds back from Thornton’s Rodriguez. Half mile out, at the last bridge crossing, Roberts gapped the pack of three Thornton runners by 12 seconds as they began to spread out amongst themselves in preparation for their final push, only 9 seconds on the next runner. Near the finish, with Roberts (17:14) securing the win, Robinson and Barraza jockeyed for position pushing each other through the finish, while their teammate, Rodriguez, finished 4th. Rounding out the top 10: Legend’s Manley held on to 5th with Rangeview’s Montoya in 6th, Arvada West’s Alex Nelson 7th, Ponderosa’s Michale Rees 8th followed by Loveland teammates Cory Tanton & Ben Terry. Times were impressive with 5 of the underclassman running under 18:00. Boys race victor, sophomore Tanner Roberts of Loveland, commented that it was a “real fast race” and further stated that the “team really raced good." This was Tanner’s first win and helps to keep his goal of running under 16:30 by the end of the season in sight. Coming off their 2nd place finish at the Thornton Invitational last Friday, Thornton coach Suzanne Hammerschmidt stated that she was really pleased with how her younger runners fared today. In speaking with the trio of Robinson, Barrazo and Rodriguez, Robinson concurred that it was a “fast course” and all three agreed that the plan was to try and stay together, proving to be a very successful race tactic. In the girls race, Ponderosa’s Bre Hemming and Maggie Kroskob set the stage to solidify their team’s third place finish. At the first half mile, Hemming, Kroskob led with Erica Randle (Fr) of Arvada West. By mile 1, the Mustang duo, along with Randle and Rangeview’s Rikki Gonzales crossed in 6:09 with a trio of Pomona runners following just 16 seconds later. Through mile two, the Mustang teammates continued to control the race with Rangeview in very close contact, gapping Randle at this point by 22 seconds with Loveland’s Amanda Cunningham beginning to make her move. Traversing the last bridge, Gonzales and the Ponderosa teammates Hemming and Kroskob maintained a 30-second gap over Randle and Cunningham. As the girls began their final approach up a slight incline and burm, Gonzales began to make her move and appeared to outstride the Ponderosa teammates. Gonzales lengthened her lead by 8 seconds with Hemming finishing second and Kroskob third. Back on the burm, Cunningham passed Randle for fourth and fifth respectively. Rounding out the top ten were: Mt. Range’s Kelsey Stauffer 6th, Loveland teammates Torrey Stephenson and Chelsea Glanzer 7th and 8th to pace their team to the eventual win, hornton’s Tracey Graham 9th and Pomona’s Emily Barlow 10th, pacing her team for the runner up honors. Girls race victor, Rangeview’s Gonzales (Fr), commented that the “toughest part of the race was coming up that (last) hill” where Gonzales would ultimately overtake the two Ponderosa runners for the win. She further explained that she “didn’t want to give up, I was so close to them.” Of his teams’ success (girls victory and boys second-place finish), Loveland coach Tim Jones was pleasantly surprised with everyone’s success, expressing that it was “their time to shine and see what the future holds” and that this is a “good foundation to build on”. He further explained that he was especially surprised at the girls team victory, as Pomona was very competitive from the beginning. The Pat Amato Meet has showcased the future of Colorado running for 20+ years by offering a Freshman/Sophomore meet on Tuesday, followed by a traditional invitational the following Friday. Named after beloved coach and cross country afficianado, expect to see 26 teams compete for the chance for Mr. Amato himself to hand out their awards at Friday’s signature event.