Colorado 3A State Cross Country Preview

Individuals

Matthew Edwards will toe the line Saturday as one of a handful of runners who could claim the title.

The TCA sophomore is coming off a dominating 16:01 victory at the 3A Region 2 Championships, which he won by 39-seconds over Henry Ilyasova. Edwards puts up some impressive runs - finishing second at the D'Evelyn Dash in 15:21 - that's the fastest time run in 3A this year - and a 15:28 victory at Joe Vigil, which he won by half-a-minute.

Ilyasova and Edwards have raced just twice, and they're 1-1 heading to the state meet - Ilyasova finished ahead of Edwards at the Doherty Spartan Invite, which he won in 15:28. His most recent result is a runner-up finish to Edwards at the 3A Region 2 Championships, which appears to be somewhat of a preview for State.

If there's anyone that knows how to run this course, it's Branden Davis

Ilyasova has two losses this year - one to Edwards at regionals, and the other to Davis at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede. Davis has run 16:00 this season, and is 1-2 against Ilyasova. 

And then there's Logan Gullett

While Edwards, Ilyasova, and Davis have all raced each other with intermixable results this season, Gullett heads to Colorado Springs undefeated this season. He's won a staggering nine consecutive races, and owns a 15:35 PR from the Thornton Invitational. His most recent victory came at the 3A Region 4 Championships, which he won in 15:45 over Caden Schweer.

Like every race at State, it'll all come down to who shows up Saturday.

This race is set for Saturday at 2:20 p.m.

Teams

The boys team competition looks a lot like the girls with two squads standing out: TCA and Alamosa.

The one time these two squads met this season - at Joe Vigil - TCA came out on top by 27 points. On paper it looks like it could be a close race - TCA has Edwards in contention to tally one point, though Alamosa has all five scoring runners heading to Colorado Springs with PRs under 17 minutes.

TCA most recently dominated the 3A Region 2 Championships by putting five inside the Top-11, and tallying 28 points. 

Alamosa won the 3A Region 1 Championships by putting four in the Top-seven, and tallying 44 points. It's of note, however that their fastest runner - Isaac Higareda - did not race at regionals.

Two more squads to keep an eye on are Frontier Academy, and Holy Family. 

Frontier Academy recently dominated the 3A Region 4 Championships, tallying 39 points, while Holy Family won the 3A Region 3 Championships with 39 as well.