Ellicott's Jodzuel Juarez took the early pacing duties, leading Noel Lopez, Andre Stablein, Micah Zeller, and Roberts through the opening mile just over 5:16.
While the Lyons senior had been in this very spot - hovering amongst the leaders - many times before, this time the race would be his to dictate.
Roberts used the hills of the second mile to press the pace and thin out the competition.
By the second mile Roberts held a thin, one-second lead, over Stablein, while Lopez was just a few seconds back.
With nothing by one mile separating himself from his first state title, Roberts left nothing to chance. He poured on the pace until he had rid himself of any challenging shadows.
As the clock ticked just over 16 minutes Roberts entered the stadium one final time, and this time he had no one in front of him.
The Lyons senior finally had a state cross country title to call his own, as he finished in 16:19.
Ten seconds later Lopez came in, finishing second in 16:29, and another 10 seconds off the clock before Stablein finished in third in 16:39.
As clear cut as the individual race was, so was the team competition.
Lyons didn't have to count very high in tallying their team score, as Simon Stone, and Jordan Shackelford joined Roberts in the fenced in Top-10 pen, finishing fifth and ninth.
The Lions tallied a dominating 14 points to claim the 2019 state title.
Peyton took the runner-up spot, scoring 38 points, while Rocky Ford finished third with 57.