We've got some great battles on tap for the 3A Colorado State Cross Country Championships!
The best in the state will descent on Colorado Springs to toe the line, one more time.
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Let's get into it, here's the 3A state preview.
Individuals
Defending state champ Katelyn Maley heads back to Colorado Springs as the favorite. The Basalt junior won five out of seven races this season, and popped a 17:36 at the Pantherfest. The only time she didn't cross the finish line first was at the Emma Coburn 5k, where she finished behind 5A runner Emma Stutzman, and this past week at the 3A Region 1 Championships, where she finished second to Sarah DeLaCerda by five seconds, presumably resting up for state.
Beyond Maley, the race looks wide open.
Allison Pippert is coming off a dominating win at the 3A Region 3 Championships. Additionally, she's won a staggering six consecutive races. In other words - she's heading to Colorado Springs with an impressive streak.
Likewise, Isabel Allori appears to be peaking right on time - she recently won the 3A Region 4 Championship in a personal best of 18:16. She's won three consecutive races.
Leah Hill is another runner to keep an eye on - she's run 18:18 this season, and is the only 3A runner to beat Pippert this season. She recently finished second to Pippert at the 3A Region 3 Championships.
Of course you can never count out the girls from The Classical Academy.
The top returner from 2019 - Sawyer Wilson - will toe the line Saturday after missing last year's state meet. And then there's Hope Ahnfeldt and Sophia Valentine who went 1-2 at the 3A Region 2 Championships. As per the usual, TCA has so much depth it could either way.
And that depth brings us to the team battle...
Teams
The defending state champs look as strong as ever.
TCA recently won the 3A Region 2 title by tallying a nearly-perfect 16 points. They've been undefeated against 3A teams squads all season, and a consistent No. 1 in the Coaches Poll.
They'll have competition, however.
Alamosa heads to Colorado Springs as the fastest squad - they've got two under 18:40 already this season, and they're nearly identical with TCA in terms of time with their 3-4-5.
These two squads have raced just once this season - at the Joe Vigil Invitational - and Alamosa came out on top that day, though it's of note that TCA raced without Wilson.
We'll see these two squads battle at full-strength Saturday at 1 p.m.
Next Page: Boys State Preview