The bright morning sun stretched west across a sea of beige. Off in the distance a trail of movement parted through the grass in a range of colors like ants moving back and forth across the landscape. In the front wearing a green top and black shorts was D'Evelyn's Eliana Thompson.
The sophomore took business-like strides just ahead of the pack, which included teammate Sonja Morin. And while she had likely shared these beige trails in practice and in workouts on other days, it was clear she intended to go at it alone Saturday morning on her home course at the D'Evelyn Dash.
It was the trend of the weekend, which was littered with revealing performances. Some used the opening weekend of the season as a workout, others used it as a test of their summer fitness. And for Thompson, it was a statement.
Thompson successfully completed the solo run with a dominating 19:42 victory, which is the fourth fastest 5k in 3A so far. Denver East's Laura Romero was a clear runner-up, running 19:56 to finish second, while Morin held on to finish third in 20:25.
As impressive as Thompson's individual victory was, so was Denver East's team title.
On the back's of Romero's runner-up finish, Denver East backed that up by pumping three more in the top ten (four total), with Julia Schor, Maya Winfield, Anna Lucy Buddenhagen finishing sixth, seventh, and ninth. They tallied 39 points to beat the home squad, D'Evelyn's 51 points, while Chatfield finish third with 79 points.
RESULTS | PHOTOS
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