Varsity Girls: Every Point Counts
Going into the race, everyone had the sense this could be good. You had three very highly regarded teams in Rock Canyon, Grandview, and Palmer Ridge. And behind them, you had three highly regarded 3A programs in D'Evelyn, Elizabeth, and The Classical Academy.
A lot can be learned in that kind of gathering. And a lot was learned.
The first half-mile or so of the race saw leadership by committee before Grandview's Kaitlyn Mercer and Palmer Ridge's Isabella Prosceno broke to the front. Behind them, but keeping in contact, were Lina Corrales of Douglas County and Kenadi Krueger of Thompson Valley.
Behind them were two or three more Bears. Early advantage: Palmer Ridge.
But, after about a mile of trading strides with Prosceno, Mercer began to fell the withering cadence of the Palmer Ridge freshman and dropped off the lead pace. Not long before, Krueger had broken Corrales and begun her own pursuit of the leaders.
That set up a battle between Prosceno and Krueger over the second half of the race. Only Krueger never could close up enough to turn it into a real battle. Through the remainder of the second loop and throughout the third loop, Prosceno maintained her gap.
There would be no battle to the finish for first. Prosceno crossed the line at 18:40, 13 seconds up on the field.
But, about the same time that it became apparent to Krueger, and to the crowd, that the gap wasn't going to close this day, a late-in-the-race charge from Rock Canyon's Shannon Osoba made the battle for second a very real thing going into the last quarter mile.
Krueger recognized the challenge and found enough in the tank to hold off Osoba by a single second for second. Mercer would finish in fourth and Corrales in fifth, both a little over 19 minutes.
Meanwhile, the team battle was just starting to take shape. Palmer Ridge's early pressure up front faded some late in the race, but the Bears still posted a very nice 1-9-12-18-24 for 64 points. Rock Canyon answered with a 3-6-7-22-27 for 65 points. It doesn't get much closer than that. But, there was more close to be dealt with. Grandview was first to close their scoring with a 4-13-19-21-23 for 80 points. The three larger school juggernauts provided a very nice little contest.
Interestingly, Palmer Ridge's win owes heavily to two freshmen. We already mentioned Isabella Prosceno in first, but Maren Busath's 9th place also weighed heavily in the final tally.
Behind Palmer Ridge, Rock Canyon, and Grandview, the 3A Girls programs staged a battle extraordinaire of their own.
Kaylee Thompson's 10th was the only medal finish for the 3A set, but places 11-20 were full of 3A names. Ashten Loeks finished in 11th, Taylor and Katelyn Haerbig in 14th and 15th, Katie Flaherty in 17th, and McKenzie Elliott in 20th.
The advantage The Classical Academy built in places 10 - 20 would stick through the final tally. When the dust had settled, TCA had 125 to 146 for Elizabeth and 150 for D'Evelyn. Interestingly, each team was down at least one presumed varsity runner from early stages of the season yet still managed to hold up well against the presence of several quality 4A and 5A programs.