It was an all-Colorado Junior Women's team at this year's running of the World Mountain Running Championships in Italy. Contributed photo.
The new normal is that there are races involving Colorado high school athletes (and recent graduates) all summer long. Some of those races have a near-global reach. As in the World Mountain Running Championships.
The USA Junior Women's team was comprised entirely of Colorado athletes: Lauren Gregory, Quinn McConnell, Soleil Gaylord, and Julia Jaschke. And, as a team, they finished second only to Romania.
Covering a 6.5K course full of breathtaking ascents and dizzying descents, Gregory finished third overall in 33:33. Following her were McConnell in 11th, Gaylord in 16th, and Jaschke in 38th.
The Junior Men also had a Colorado representative in Nate Fedel, who finished 40th in that race.
On the senior circuit, the race was 13K and included a few more names likely familiar to Colorado fans of distance running. Most familiar on that list should be Allie McLaughlin, who took fifth in the senior women's race at 1:06.06.