Aurora City Championship Preview

Yonas Mogos and Luke Sundberg will battle for the individual title this year.

The first cross country race of the 2018 season is set for Aurora, and yes, it's a championship race. The Aurora City Championship will be run at the Aurora Sports Park Thursday, and when the dust settles Thursday night, we'll have our first victors of the season. 

We'll have a team of two for coverage on this one, which includes myself. And you'll definitely want to check back for a little post-race surprise here on co.milesplit.com... And on that note don't miss a stride - make sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

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Boys Preview: New Year, New Champions

The boy's race will see a new champion, and a new top-six, as last year the top six spots were all seniors. This leaves the door wide open for a new face to cross the line first.

Rangeview's Luke Sundberg may finally have his time to shine here, as he is the top returner from last year's race, and holds the fastest personal best of anyone in the race. But he won't be alone - he'll likely have heavy competition from Gateway's Yonas Mogos. The two had quite the battle to the finish line at last year's regional championships (photo above). Likewise, they had similar track season, though Mogos has the edge with his 4:25/9:51 PRs, compared to Sundberg's 4:29/9:59. But, that's close enough to assume this one could go down to line, again. 

And on the note of it coming down to the final strides, neither will want Tesamichael Wolde, or Abdi Abade nearby, because both have great finishing speed. Wolde has a 1:56 800 PR to his name, while Abade has a 1:57.

We will very likely see a new team champion as well, as Grandview graduated nearly their entire varsity squad. On paper the team race looks fairly close, though Overland has got the edge heading into the meet. They return a stellar top three, and their four and five could put this one away for them. Behind them, there appears to be a three-way battle between Rangeview, Cherokee Trail, and Smoky Hill. The difference will be made with the four and five runners, because each squad has a solid front runner.

Next Page: Girls Preview