Everyone was checking their watches when Bethany Michalak came storming around the corner, hot on the wheels of the lead-biker. The Air Academy freshman was beyond clear of the field, running her own race.
In her own timezone.
"What's her Mile-Split?" one boy asked his teammate from the sideline as Michalak neared the mile.
"She's gonna be like 5:20 or something man..." the teammate responded.
"Man, that's faster than you!"
Michalak blitzed the opening mile just over 5:20, sending jaws to the floor as most boys on the sides of the course worried that the freshman-phenom just might eclipse their own times on this very course.
Michalak did what she's become well-known for - she raged over the course. A rocket breaking free from gravity as soon as the gun sent 67 girls into the field for the 4A Region 2 Championships.
Her only competition was herself.
The Air Academy freshman picked up her fourth-consecutive victory of the season, and her first region title in a performance that appeared to be an out-of-town preview, given how she ran solo from the first stride through the final.
A warm-up for next week's State Championships.
Michalak cruised across the finish line 17:51 after departing the starting line, and then the waiting started.
While the gap between her and her chasers was enormous even at the mile, it only grew as the race ticked on.
Behind Michalak there was a hotly contested battle brewing, however.
In what appeared to be an entirely separate race (Michalak could've run in her own wave...) The Lewis-Palmer duo of Jade Allen and Aubrey Surage led a "lead" pack that included Ella Chura, Adele Havlick, and Maren Busath through the opening mile.
Surage and Allen teammed-up through the middle mile and telescoped away from the pack. Chura chased while Havlick was just a few strides behind her.
As they've finished several times this season, Surage kicked late for the runner-up finish in 19:06, just ahead of teammate Allen's 19:09.
Air Academy's Chura finished fourth in 19:36, while Havlick was six-seconds back in 19:42.
While Air Academy put two in the top-four, Brooke Moss and Olivia Novy joined their teammates in the top-nine.
Air Academy was the runaway winner here, tallying 38 points. Palmer Ridge took second with 62, while Lewis-Palmer took the third and final qualifying spot with 79.