Where to begin?
Really.
Anyone who was there is still trying to process what just happened at the Garmin RunningLane Championships Saturday.
There's soo much to unpack, particularly for Colorado, who - as a whole - came, saw, and conquered RunningLane.
And it wasn't just quality that Colorado brought to RunningLane, it was quantity -- according to RunningLane meet officials, Colorado was the second-most represented state at the meet.
Anyone who made the trip noticed the chaos of not just what was happening on the course, but off the course as well - the crowd, the energy, was insane. It had the feel of the NCAA Division 1 Championships.
Nearly every athlete interviewed noted the crowd, and how it urged them on. If there was ever a day or a place to be a cross country runner, it was was Saturday at RunningLane...
Let's get into it...
In a quick glimpse, Colorado had three teams capture podium finishes in the Gold Race, and four runners nab Top-10 finishes.
Among the (many) highlights has to be the RunningLane National Champions, the Niwot girls.
In arguably the most-competitive team race in the country this year, they took care of business.
The girls race race included US No. 2 Buchanan, US No. 3 Niwot, US No. 4 Arapahoe, US No. 5 Cherry Creek, and the list goes on.
4A state champ Eva Klingbeil led the way for Niwot with a seventh-place, 16:44 finish. Madison Shults was their No. 2 this day, finishing 41st in 17:21, which was just ahead of Bella Nelson's 17:26, 45th-place finish Stella Vieth was just a few-seconds back in 54th, running 17:34, and closing the door for Niwot was Sierra Parks, who was 73rd in 17:41.
Mia Prok and Sarah Perkins were Niwot's 6-7, and both ran under 17:54.
Niwot's depth was on full-display with this shape-shifted line-up, who tallied 111 points to claim the RunningLane National title. Buchanan was 28-points back with 138 for second, while Arapahoe was third with 208 points. Cherry Creek took fifth behind York to make it three Colorado three squads inside the top-five.
Individually, 5A state champ Riley Stewart led Colorado with a third-place finish in a loaded girl's race. The Cherry Creek senior crossed the finish line in a personal best of 16:28.
What's additionally impressive, is that a staggering seven Colorado girls broke 17 minutes, and 37 broke 18 minutes.
Editor's Note: While there has been speculation to the distance of the course, it's of note that not only was the course measured via GPS, (etc.) by a ton of of people, it was additionally rolled, old-school-style, and deemed accurate -- my own eyewitness account.
Klingbeil was Colorado's second-runner across the line in seventh, and right behind her was Air Academy's Bethany Michalak, who finished 10th in a PR of 16:49. Valor Christian's Brooke Wilson finished 12th in 16:50, Arapahoe's
Emily Lamontagne finished 15th in 16:53, Pomona's Emma Stutzman finished 18th in 16:56, and Valor's Keeghan Edwards finished 19th in 16:58.
As incredible as the girl's race was, the boy's race was nothing short of historic.
There was a ton of pre-race buzz circling US No. 1 Newbury Park heading into the race, which prompted the question to: How fast will it take the win the boy's race?
Answer: Record-breaking fast.
Four runners went under Dathan Ritzenhein's 14:10 5k national record, which was set in 2000.
Newbury Park's Colin Sahlman 's 14:03.29 not only rewrote the record books, but he won the race. And he was joined by teammates Leo Young and Lex Young, who both ran 14:05.
But it doesn't end there - Colorado got a little slice of that record-breaking pie...
Zane Bergen officially became the fastest fourth-pace finisher in history. The Niwot senior also broke the pre-existing record, running 14:09.9.
US No. 1 Newbury Park claimed the team title in a mind-blowing 28 points to seal the deal on all the hype.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne Mountain proved their US No. 2 ranking by solidly finishing second, with 117 points - well over 65 points ahead third-place US No. 3 Jesuit.
The boy's field included every squad ranked in the Top-10 nationally.
Knox Exton led the squad with a 14:37, 22nd-place finish, which was just ahead of
Kaden Levings, who finished 27th in 14:41, and Erik Le Roux, who finished 33rd, in 14:42. Tyler Nord was their fourth runner under 15 minutes, running 14:55 for 59th, while Enzo Knapp closed the door, running 15:12 for 110th.
Niwot was Colorado's second squad, finishing eighth, which was just ahead of Valor Christian, who finished ninth, and Mountain Vista, who finished 10th.
Like the girls race, the boys race was ridiculously fast, and PRs were a-plentiful. 17 Colorado boys broke 15 minutes, and 58 broke 16 minutes.
Connor McCormick had perhaps the best race of his season. The Longmont senior was Colorado's second runner across the line, finishing 15th in a massive PR of 14:30.
Mountain View's Jackson Shorten was Colorado's third runner across line, finishing 20th in 14:36.
Following the Cheyenne Mountain trio of Exton, Levings, and Le Roux, Golden's Bryce Reeburgh was Colorado's seventh, finishing 37th in 14:42, which was just ahead of Durango's Damian Frausto and Fairview's Eric Sankey, who both ran 14:44. The Classical Academy's Matthew Edwards was Colorado's 10th runner across the line, running 14:48 for 48th.
Another bright spot for Colorado came in the Bronze race, which was won by William Wachter. The Mountain Vista freshman won in a wild kick-finish that stretched the entire final straightaway.
Additionally, Mountain Vista won the Bronze race team title with 78 points.