For the third week in a row, Scott Fauble takes home a major meet title. Photo by Rick Wilson.
In addition to Fauble, winners of the DI and DII races at Liberty Bell were Kelsey Lakowske, Walter Schafer, and Eleanor Fulton. All photos by Rick Wilson.
The dust has settled on yet another version of the Liberty Bell Invitational, hosted by Heritage High School.
As it does every year, the Liberty Bell meet provided a showcase for several of the top runners in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. As it does every year, the meet provided several exciting races and elbow-to-elbow crowds along the finish area.
Top times of the day belonged to Walter Schafer of Cherry Creek (15:04) and Kelsey Lakowske of Boulder (17:35). Both times were Division I times. Division I entries are from, roughly, the largest fourth of schools entered from Colorado, plus a few out-of-state schools that are not necessarily of the same size as the Colorado schools in the race.
The Division II races were almost as exciting as the DI races, as Scott Fauble of Wheat Ridge and Eleanor Fulton of Highlands Ranch took home honors in 15:18 and 17:39, respectively.
The real story of both of the top races, however, may have been in the team results as Albuquerque Academy won DI boys, but by a narrow enough margin over Regis Jesuit to suggest that Regis may not be far from joining the regional elite. Running full-strength for the first time this year, Fort Collins put the hurt on the DI girls field and looks ready to continue their recent dominance. Boulder, which was only five points back of Fort Collins at the Pat Patten Invitational, fell to Fort Collins by 51 points this time around, taking too many points in their latter scoring positions.
In the DII races, Loveland edged Rampart in a very tight boys race, while Highlands Ranch (first) and Pine Creek (second) easily distanced themselves from the rest of the girls field. In a tough 5A field at state, Pine Creek may hold an advantage over Highlands Ranch with their deeper lineup.
The Laramie boys rode into town as the team to beat in DIII and rode out of town the same way. Niwot is improving and looks to be seeing more of Moffat County when the state meet rolls around.
In Division III girls, it's all about Evergreen right now. Each week, this team looks a ittle sharper. This week, they were simply devastating, gapping second-place Niwot 33-113. Bryn Haebe has company from Taylor Warren this fall, and these two have at least three more following them in close pursuit. Evergreen is definitely a team to watch.
Vista Ridge humbled the field in Division IV girls, but will have to compete in 4A at regionals and state. The Wolfpack is a solid team, but the competition they will see in 4A is stronger than what they faced at Liberty Bell. Estes Park was a solid second and well ahead of the rest of the 3A competition.
Division IV boys turned out to be a tight contest between a pair of regional rivals--Faith Christian and Colorado Academy. Round one goes to Faith by a count of 50-67. Right now, both are going very solid through #3. The first one to bring a #4 up to the same level could become the odds-on favorite in 3A boys, though there will be some other schools with some say in the matter. One of those teams could be third-place University. Denver Christian's Ryan Poland (15:43) continues to impress on the individual level. Amos Bowen of Brush was right behind at 15:45.