Holy Family's Christian Montoya ran away with the win in Division 2, finishing just off a school record.
Twice As Nice
Christian Montoya pumped his muscular arms through the final quarter mile of the Division 2 race. His sunglasses shaded any concern spectators may have seen in his eyes. He tried not to think about the bigger reality of what was happening. Montoya focused on his stride. His arms. The vibrant green grass of open field in front him.
Montoya was running uncharted territory.
The Holy Family senior had never won a cross country race. And he was chasing a school record. Winning, or chasing the record wasn't exactly his plan coming into the race, but Montoya could think of no better way to spend a Friday afternoon.
He paced his way through the opening two miles, running stride for stride with the competition. It wasn't until the final mile that he dared to write a new storyline for himself.
"I wanted to take the last mile hard," he explained. "I wanted to give it my all."
Racing free from anyone else into the final mile, Montoya focused on his own efforts. It wasn't until the final 1,000 meters that he woke up from his reverie.
"I saw my dad with 1,000 to go," Montoya explained. "He was like go! Go!"
Montoya went on to run a personal best of 16:23 - which eclipsed his previous best of 16:30 from Liberty Bell two weeks ago.
Clearly, he's found a new stride in recent weeks, as not many athletes run faster than their Liberty Bell PR.
Green Mountain sophomore Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos took the runner-up spot 10 seconds back in 16:33, while Evergreen's Colin Szuch finished third in 16:37.
Adding to Montoya's sweet victory was the fact that Holy Family took the team title as well, tallying 81 points. Hot on their heels, however, was Evergreen with 87 points. Golden capped off the top three with 101 points.
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