Eventual state champion Walter Schafer of Cherry Creek battles Roblet Muhudin in the Colorado 5A boys race. Photo by Mark Oveson.
By Matt Norton and Alan Versaw, Colorado NXN-SW Ambassadors
Each state meet is in the books. That's to say, the positioning is now over. The fields will be determined by 1) the rankings of the meet director and state ambassadors and 2) which teams register for the meet.
The titles of top runners and teams in Arizona were settled this weekend at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix. While there weren't too many surprises on the girls' side, the boys' team battle did provide, at least to us on the outside, some things to ponder over the next week and a half.
On the boys' side, American Fork put seven in the top 10 to easily outclass a less-than-100% Mountain View squad. Austin West finished in an accustomed position: first.
In New Mexico, the top performances at the state meet were turned in by two 4A schools that nobody has ever heard of before. Well, at least people living in caves without access to media haven't heard of them.
The Albuquerque Academy boys, stirring the pot a little for a much-anticipated showdown with American Fork in Tempe, was simply dominant on the day, putting all of their top six finishers in the top 10. Yes, they beat the field in 4A boys, going 2-3-4-6-9 vs. 1-5-7-8-11 for the field. And the field was heavily represented by Los Alamos as the Hilltoppers went 1-7-8-11-13. Yes, you read correctly, exactly one runner in the top 10 of the New Mexico 4A boys race wasn't from AA or LA. Must have been a lonely feeling.
Cibola easily disposed of the competition in 5A boys with Vincent Montoya posting the second best boys' time on the day with a 15:10.20. Kyle Pittman's (Los Alamos) time of 14:59.60 stood as the best time of the day.
The Los Alamos girls posted the best girls performance of the day, topping the 4A field and running narrowly better (by straight time comparison) than 5A champion Eldorado. Albuquerque Academy and Rio Rancho were the runners-up in 4A and 5A, respectively.
On a brand new state course at Rancho San Rafeal park in Reno, Nevada, the big story was the collapse of the highly-touted South Tahoe girls team. Shortly before Kelsey Smith posted the top girls time of the day with an 18:58, South Tahoe's second runner dropped out of the race and things took a nasty turn for the rest of the team. The heavy favorites for the team title fell to Carson in 4A, slipping to third place overall.
And that led to a sweep of the titles for Carson, who also won the 4A boys title. Richard Shroy took the individual honors for Carson. Close behind Carson was Centennial, followed by Green Valley--both schools from the Las Vegas area.
Wade Meddles had the best time of the day in all classifications with a 16:05.
Also on Saturday was the Colorado State Meet, postponed one week in the aftermath of a major fall snowstorm.
Things went pretty much according to form for Regis Jesuit, who won the 5A boy's race, for Fort Collins, who won the 5A girls' race, and for The Classical Academy, who won the 3A girls' race. Each won by comfortable margins and each displayed a level of depth in the scoring lineup that other teams could not answer.
Alamosa was an upset winner in the 4A girls race, as seemingly one disaster after another struck the favored Evergreen team on Saturday. Rapidly rising Thompson Valley took second in 4A girls.
Greeley West, not exactly a surprise winner, but not a heavy favorite either, turned back all contenders in the 4A boys race.
Although Fort Collins won the 5A girls race by 23 points, Boulder, Pine Creek, and Highlands Ranch each posted fine performances. The dominance of the Fort Collins squad should not be interpreted to mean weakness in the rest of the field.
Top times on the day were posted by Scott Fauble (15:24) and Kelsey Lakowske (17:28). Both complete unbeaten seasons.