Varsity Girls: Team Scoring Goes as Expected, A Surprise in the Individual Outcome
If you've been following the Coronado girls, you know that the trajectory of their season has been getting steeper the deeper we go into the season. So, when the fivesome of Chloe Cassens, Taylor Dutton, Grace Abernethy, Faith Roth, and Madeline Morland staked out early positions near the front of the field it wasn't far to the conclusion that the 5A die was cast.
There were other good 5A teams in the field, but none that was going to pair up down the line with Coronado's depth.
Indeed, each of the five aforementioned Cougars ended up with top-ten finishes. Coronado thus easily turned aside Pine Creek's bid for a league crown, 29 to 52.
The Classical Academy was working a similar kind of front-end domination in the 4A girls race within the race. Kaylee Thompson, McKenzie Elliott, and Katie Flaherty ended up 1-2-3 in the girls tally, nearly ensuring a TCA win. An Ashten Loeks-less Elizabeth team, however, made it a bit interesting before it was over. Alaina Jones and Brenna Jones followed the TCA trio in 4th and 5th, and the game was suddenly back on.
But, TCA's Sarah Burroughs and Erin Percy closed the door before Elizabeth could pull out the upset. The final tally had TCA with 27 to 46 for Elizabeth. Still, with Loeks in the lineup, this one could easily end up too close to call.
The best part of the girls race, though, was the developing story out front that had no regard for classification boundaries.
Kyla Ramsey has been dominating most everything around Colorado Springs this fall. And, this race started out very much like Ramsey was readying to add the CSML notch to her stick.
But, the Coronado trio of Cassens, Dutton, and Abernethy hung a few strides behind Ramsey, refusing to let her pull away as been her fashion all through the fall. Right behind the Coronado trio, TCA's Kaylee Thompson doggedly kept herself in the hunt as well.
By the second loop around the FFC circuit, Ramsey found herself caught up in a lead group of three, shared by Cassens and Thompson, who had broken for the rest of the pursuit pack and bridged their way up to the leader. Leads shifted to and fro over most of the last half mile. Many trial balloons were floated, but the trio remained a trio.
Cassens, Ramsey, and Thompson entered the final stretch of grass to the finish chute as a virtual dead heat.
Cassens made the first move and opened a gap on both Ramsey and Thompson with a determined surge a few meters into the grass. Ramsey couldn't summon her legs to an effectual response, but Thompson--momentarily caught off guard by the strength of Cassens' move--took off after the Coronado senior, overtaking her just before the finish line and taking the win by a fraction of a second.