The stage was set for fast times at the new Warrior Lincoln Park Classic. The new course was designed to be fast and that's exactly what took place on Friday as the sun was setting on the pancake flat Lincoln Park Golf Course way out west in Grand Junction.
With the smell of freshly cut grass in the air and the sun beginning to set on the red rocks of the Colorado National Monument you could sense the excitement in the air from the 200 runners getting ready to take off for for fast times.
Everyone was expecting fast times from this new two lap course on the short grass and hard packed golf cart paths and the majority would not be disappointed. At the end of the day the new course would not disappoint bringing many new personal records.
Hittle and Heil Battle
The ladies were up first and they would not disappoint anyone's expectations. From the start they were out quick with Rebecca Hittle of Palisade and freshman Jadyn Heil of Fruita Monument sprinting straight to the front.
Fresh off of personal bests last week they were looking to better those times on what should be a much faster course. They both zoomed past the first mile in about six minutes and the battle to set the new course record was on.
In the end Hittle would once again pull away from her challenger and get her third win of the season with a new personal best of 19:13 improving 11 seconds from her win at Anna Banana the week before.
Heil's willingness to go out fast and challenge her rival would pay off with a 19:18, a 23 second improvement on her best. She has put together an impressive start to her freshman season with her third second place finish to Hittle this year.
Behind these two the chase pack of four runners, two from Fruita Monument and two from Montrose would battle it out to the end. Montrose's Megan Motley and Kelsey Rycenga would ultimately pull away from the lady Wildcat's running 19:39 and 19:40.
Close on their heels Fruita's Mekenzie Clark and Ashlynn Squires would also break the 20 minute mark. The ladies clearly set the stage for what was to come in the boys race with the first six finishers running under 20 for the first time this season.
The Fruita Monument girls would go on to win the team title with 39 points putting five finishers in the top 15 overall with a 95 second 1-5 split. The women Wildcats are clearly putting together a talented team of young runners way out west with two freshman leading the way.
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