Austin Vancil and Connor Ohlson made it a two-man race.
Oh, hello Dakota Ridge
The sight of Austin Vancil's three-dimensional fro glimmering in the sunlight, and teammate Connor Ohlson striding purposefully next to him has become common this season. And Friday was no different.
What added to the sight was that the Dakota Ridge duo ran a clear of the pack early on in the Division 1 race, and never looked back.
"We wanted to go out hard and set the pace," Vancil said. "We went through the mile around 4:55 and looked at each other and thought it was a little fast."
The two cruised into the final 200 meters side by side, clearly running comfortably. The only real question was who would take the win on this day.
It was Ohlson who crossed the line first in 15:47, while Vancil and his fro finished in Ohlson's shadow one second later in 15:48.
The 1-2 finish gave Dakota Ridge the best possible tally for two runners with their combined three points, and that was just a piece of the puzzle revealed Friday.
"As a team we've had pretty big aspirations for this year," Ohlson shared. "We've done well as a team, but today was the first time we all pulled together. This was one of our first races with almost all of our guys."
Ohlson's statement was backed up in the numbers, as Dakota Ridge dominated the team competition with 34 points, beating 5A No. 1 Mountain Vista by 41 points. Clearly, Dakota Ridge will be a threat at state next month.
Mountain Vista tallied 75 points, while 5A No. 3 Heritage finished third with 107 points.
Cherry Creek's Parker Wolfe finished in 16-flat. Chatfield's Cole Nash and Ian Kelly closed out the top five, with Nash running 16:11, and Kelly in at 16:19.
Next Page: Vista Nation Dominates, and Battle Mountain reveal...