3A Region 2
The Classical Academy swept the team and individual titles at the 3A Region 2 meet.
In the boys race, Sam Feldotto led wire-to-wire and was unchallenged beyond the first couple hundred meters, finishing in 16:39. Behind Feldotto, the Titans placed John Metzger third, Jacob Mueller 7th, and Ben Loftin eleventh to finish their team scoring with 22 points.
Other teams qualifying for state were: Salida 45, La Junta 48, and Peyton 82.
On the girls side, it was a very good race for the girls individual title with Kaitlin Hanenburg finally getting a little separation from Kara Slavoski in the last 500 metes to win 18:32 to 18:45. The next three places, however, went to Shelby Stableford, Emily LaValley, and Kassie Mazzocco as TCA finished with 13 team points.
Other teams qualifying for state were: St. Mary's 50, Salida 55, and Discovery Canyon 62.
3A Region 3
Word came back that this was a tough course. Looking at the times, it's not hard to believe that it was.
In the boys race, it was all Faith Christian and Colorado Academy, but a little more of the Eagles as they edged Colorado Academy 25 - 28 for the team title. CA's Melake Getabecha won the team title by over 20 seconds over Denver Christian's Ryan Poland, however, in 17:38. A 3-5-8-9 finish was all that Faith Christian needed for the team title.
With 13 complete teams, five schools advanced to state. The remaining state qualifiers were Clear Creek 74, Holy Family 97, and Sheridan with 108.
On the girls side, Sam Berggren cruised to an easy win in 19:48. Hilary Haase of Platte Canyon was second in 21:21. Berggren's effort helped lead Middle Park to the team title as well with a total of 39 points.
The other three girls teams advancing to state were: Holy Family 47, St. Mary's Academy 50, and Kent Denver with 57.
2A Region 2
The biggest surprise of the day came out of the 2A Region 2 meet in Rocky Ford. It was there that the Limon girls sent a message--figure the Badgers into the 2A girls title race. Led by a meet-winning 20:22 from Nicole O'Dwyer and a third-place 20:42 from Meg Bontrager, Limon piled up a measly 17 points to beat host Rocky Ford for the title by one point.
Rocky Ford did, however, run without the help of Jessika Kienitz (state softball playoffs??).
The boys side marked the return of Victor Montoya to dominance. After a series of meets where he just didn't seem to have the edge we've grown accustomed to from him, Montoya put away Fountain Valley's Steven Stoot 16:14 to 16:25 for the individual title. Rocky Ford would also win the team title, scoring 10 points to 20 for second-place Fountain Valley.
Other state-qualifying teams were Kiowa for the boys and Vanguard for the girls.