Kylie Kenny (Aspen)
Aspen's Kylie Kenney finished in the top-10 eight out of 10 times - and three of those were victories. While she never toed the line on a "fast" course in Colorado, she went head-to-head with some of Colorado's best in the high country.
Kenny opened her 2019 season with a 21:06, third-place finish at the Basalt Longhorn Invitational. A week later she battled on perhaps on the most grueling courses in the state at the Battle Mountain Husky Invitational, finishing 12th in a loaded field in 21:49.
She picked up her first victory at the Ramble at the Reservoir, and went on to streak - winning another two consecutive races for a tally of three.
With momentum on her side, she dropped a big-time personal best at the 3A Region 1 championships, finishing second to eventual state champion Sierra Bower. Kenney ran 19:23 that day.
Just over a week later she nearly eclipsed the time, running 19:31 to finish eighth at the state championships.
Audrey Orstead (Faith Christian Academy)
When scanning over Audrey Orstead's 2019 season, it's hard not to be insanely impressed with her consistency - she finished in the top-10 eight out of nine races in Colorado. And of those eight, three were third-place finishes, and one was a fourth-place finish.
In another perspective, her first five races were over 20 minutes, and four out of final five were under.
Orstead opened her season with a 21:02, third place finish in the 3A race at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede. When she'd toed the line on this course in October she'd chop nearly a minute-and-a-half off that time.
One race that hinted as to what she would do later in the season came at St. Vrain, where she finished third in the 2A/3A race in a Colorado PR of 19:58. Her teammate Shannon King won that race in 19:21.
She backed that up with another PR - running 19:44 to finish third at 3A Metro League Meet two weeks later, and then a fourth-place finish at the 3A Region 3 championships in 20:11. King once again claimed the race, running 19:28.
Just over a week later and on the biggest stage in Colorado, Orstead dropped her best performance to date, running 19:42, finishing ninth. Her teammate King was 14 seconds ahead in 19:28.
Katelyn Maley (Basalt)
Katelyn Maley's 2019 cross country season looks more like two - it's clear that she found her stride halfway through the season. Her first four races were anywhere between 20:23 and 22:39, while her last four races (in Colorado) were between 19:19 and 20:00.
She opened her season with a 21:19, sixth-place finish at the Basalt Longhorn Invitational.
Her breakthrough came a month later, where she cracked 20 for the first time, running 19:57 at the Warrior Lincoln Park Classic.
Maley went on to crack 20 twice more before State, running a PR of 19:19 at the Pantherfest, where Bower ran 17:40.
Maley hinted at what she'd do at State a week later at the 3A Region 1 championships, where she ran 19:43. She finished third that day, behind Bower and Kylie Kenny.
Her streak of Sub-20 performances came to an end at State - barely though. Maley ran 20:00.8 to finish 12th on the biggest stage in Colorado. She was the second freshman to cross the finish line (Sawyer Wilson finished second.)