Rampart wins the battle, Pine Creek wins the war
Truth be told, it wasn't much of a battle. Ben Conlin separated comparatively early from the field and was never seriously threatened. His 16:11 was 30 seconds ahead of second place and stands as an excellent time for this course.
To make matters even more convincing, Conlin looked a lot more refreshed at the finish--or at any other point in the race--than second-place Sean McCauley of Pine Creek. In short, Conlin made it look easy; but easy can be deceiving. "Easy" might just be a lot more difficult on the other six days of the week.
Once again, Pine Creek had the reinforcements needed to make short work of the team score. Following McCauley were Jackson Ponce de Leon in 6th, Caleb Boutelle in 9th, Taylor Mallery in 14th (also the top freshman finisher), and Joshua Jester in 18th. Pine Creek has the pieces in place, plus maybe one or two, to be a solid 5A team of interest once again this year.
Rampart had Conlin, Noah Gandley, and Brett Kitazono all in the top 10 but couldn't close the book as quickly as their cross-district rivals.
Coronado, Lyons, and Peyton closed out the top five in the team scoring. Yes, that's two 2A programs in the top five. And, they did it with scoring five, not three. Both are teams worth thinking more about as the season matures. Both showed very well here. Simon Stone of Lyons claimed third-place individual honors. Joel Schluessler led Peyton with a 13th-place showing.