Samrawit Dishon stood a few feet behind the finish line.
The Niwot senior took heavy breaths, but eyed her teammate Taylor James as she pumped through the final strides of her race.
Just over 10 seconds earlier Dishon went hands-to-knees after crossing the finish line in a stellar 18:55 clocking. While she had just demolished the field the moment didn't last long, as she knew her teammates would be arriving soon.
After James crossed the two embraced with battle-worn smiles before collectively turning to cheer on the rest of their team.
Niwot had a 1-2 finish at the 5A Region 3 Championships, and they weren't done.
20 seconds later freshman teammate Madison Shults came kicking in to finish third in 19:41. Seven seconds later Joelle McDonald, and Amelia Philofsky came in stride for stride in 19:48.
15 points.
It rings with symmetrical precision the way a four-minute mile does, or like a two hour marathon.
Niwot swept the top five spots at the regional meet - that's about as dominating as any team can be. That's perfection.
While everyone knew who won the team title before 20 minutes came off the clock, there were still battles brewing on the course.
Standley Lake's Ryley Darnell was the first finisher not wearing black singlet, and she finished sixth in 20:21, just two seconds ahead of Maggie McCleskey from Centaurus.
Their finish would indicate where the team race was going, only in reverse.
Centaurus took the runner-up spot with 64 points, while Standley Lake took third with 81. Northfield nabbed the final state qualifying spot, tallying 114, while Denver North was just 12 points back in fifth, tallying 126.
RESULTS | PHOTOS
Next Page: Culpepper leads seven Niwot runners into the Top 9.