Skyview's Jack Lee craned his neck one last time as he rounded the corner just before the three-mile mark and surely he knew the race was his. The junior traversed the course at Fehringer Ranch in 17:15 and built a 23 second lead in the process to claim the 3A Region 5 title.
Lee made his move just after the one mile mark when he finally was free of the three-wide trail. While the trail hindered him in the beginning, it certainly gave him enough energy to work a bit harder in the latter parts of the race.
Lee was the lone Skyhawk on the course this afternoon and with the win, punched his ticket to the CHSAA State Championships next weekend.
Now back to the action.
Benedict Siegel (Machebuf) was in second place in 17:38 with Joshua Judson (Fatih Christian) in third just two seconds back of him in 17:40. Then it was Bradley Troyer (Colorado Academy), the other individual qualifier, edging Paul Sri (Machebuf), 5th, for 4th place in 17:51.2 to 17:51.9.
The battle for 6-7-8 ultimately shaped the team race as Zach Morris (Faith Christian) took home the photo finish for 6th over Kent Denver's Alex Barker (7th, 17.56.1) and Jonathan Bennett (8th, 17.56.2). Sebastian Buelter (9th, 18:02) was Faith Christian's third scorer with teammate Alex Bepristis (18:35) two spots back in 11th with Colorado Academy's Toren Knepper (18:04) sandwiched between the two in 10th.