4A Region 3 Girls
Even more compelling to watch than the battle between the boys teams was their female counterparts. Valor and Niwot both came into the meet with the possibility of taking home the win, and don't forget that Centaurus girls just won the Northern League meet over Niwot a couple of weeks ago.
On the first circuit of the course, it would have been virtually impossible to figure out which team was in the lead if it were not for Mark Roberts announcing which teams were placed well at different parts of the race. Of all the components of being at a Mark Roberts run meet, the lap-by-lap team scoring might be the best.
On the second circuit of the course, things began to take shape a little more. Niwot, Valor, and Centaurus seemed to be taking over the race, save for a random singlet or two in the mix, it was all white, blue and green.
When it came time to make things official. Taylor James from Niwot did the first bit of damage, winning in 19:16. Valor's Keely Jones and Taylor Whitfield crossed the line together in 19:27 to take second and third. Maggie Smith from Niwot was next in 4th. Valor answered back with Riley Irwin in 5th. Then the Valor-Niwot battle got put on hold for a few places while Centaurus made their case. Riley Geldean, Molly Maksin, and Katie Hooten finished 7-9-10.
Joelle McDonald from Niwot then crossed in 12th at 20:31. Kindyll Wetta from Valor was 14th at 20:38. Then came Jeri Wilcox and Annabelle Huddle from Niwot to keep it going in 15th and 16th. Niwot stopped their scoring at 48 points. Through four places, Valor had only scored 24 points, so in order to preserve the win, the fifth scorer would need to do exactly what she did. Emma Sees wrote the final chapter of the story by closing in 19th. Valor--43 to Niwot's 48. Pretty compelling day if you are into that kind of thing.
Centaurus finished a strong third with 70 points. Standley Lake's girls team will be joining their boys team on a fabulous tour of the state venue by finishing fourth. Sophia Abernethy led the way with her 19:51 6th place finish.
Individually, three girls extended their season. Lexi Emerson from George Washington (8th), Emily Condon from Erie (11th), and Riley Buese from Northfield (13th).