Rock Canyon edges Castle View in the Douglas County duel
The battle between Edward Rush and Derek Fearon was emblematic of the larger team battle between the two schools.
Admit it. You were curious to know who had the better team. Was it Rock Canyon, or was it Castle View? You could have made a case for either.
For today, though, Rock Canyon was better. It's just that they weren't enough better that they can go home and feel like they've put the Sabercats behind them. A pre-state 54-57 margin of victory can be less than fully satisfying that way.
We can rest assured these teams will see each other once again--and there could be a 5A Region 5 berth to state on the line one of the next times they do meet, though both teams are strong candidates to be top four finishers in the region and may not have to worry about one going while the other stays home. That's a dangerous assumption to make, though. You never want to go into regionals assuming too much. And perhaps especially not going into 5A Region 5.
But, enough of that, and back to today's racing...
For the first half of the race, the lead pack looked a lot like Mason Norman joining a Rock Canyon vs. Castle View scrimmage. Close to the midway point, though, Norman made his break and went on to a comfortable 31-second win over Derek Fearon.
TCA, on the other hand, wasn't going to factor as a team title winner in this race, so Fearon's second effectively put Rock Canyon in the team scoring driver's seat. Castle View answered with Edward Rush in third. Wesley Beckham of Rock Canyon and Jared Wright of Castle View nailed down the next two places.
The two points of advantage Rock Canyon held at this point would be very nearly their final advantage. There's not a lot of separation between these two teams.
Castle View's Aidan Scott took sixth before Caleb Mann and Oscar Goll of Liberty (a team that's quietly having a very nice season) broke up the Rock Canyon-Castle View party.
Finishes went here and there over the next 20 places or so, but the bottom line to this story is that Rock Canyon got their fifth past the finish before Castle View got their fourth. Not much before, but before nonetheless. And therein lies the margin of victory that gave Dan Davies' Jaguars the win.
Palmer Ridge took third and Liberty fourth. TCA led the small-school crowd with a fifth-place team finish.