Midway through the race, Lucy Pidek was squarely in the lead, but Sophia Mena was starting to get ideas that it didn't have to end that way.
Girls Race: Patience Pays Off For Sophia Mena
It doesn't happen for everyone, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't. And, because we can, we'll note that Sophia Mena's win today was a first high school cross country meet title for the Widefield sophomore.
For better than two miles, the race appeared to be safely in the hands of Dakota Ridge senior Lucy Pidek. On the final loop around the massive FFC baseball diamonds, however, Mena began crafting a different end to the story. Mena made the pass and never looked back, crossing the finish line in 20:26, 12 seconds ahead of Pidek.
Pidek, however, had more in the way of reinforcements than Mena, but not right away. Madelyn Rodrigues of Widefield crossed in sixth, giving the Glads a significant early advantage. That advantage evaporated, though, when Dakota Ridge sent Zoe Plechaty, Lauren Dynda, and Ainsley Hecox across in 9-10-14, with a light blue singlet in sight. Abby Vagher closed out the scoring in 16th, and the deed was done.
Palmer would end up in second and homestanding Fountain-Fort Carson in third before Widefield could complete their scoring. No school smaller than The Classical Academy appeared in the team scoring.
Megan Motley led western slope Montrose in third with a 20:48. As an asterisk, of sorts, on that performance, Motley--and all of the Montrose squad--were running their second race in as many days. Montrose historically makes a twofer out of this weekend, and they did this year as well.