"No individual result is gained alone. You have such a big support system with your teammates, coaches, family and friends. It's not worth it to do it alone. It's always that much sweeter when you're doing it with someone else."
By Bobby Reyes - Colorado MileSplit
Zane Bergen stood tall on the starting line in the dark night.
The stadium lights shined down from high above, creating ominous shadows on the track at Longmont High.
The Niwot senior anxiously eyed the starter's gun while donning a black singlet with the sticker "1" taped to his left side. Anyone who knows anything about track knows what the "1" sticker means.
It means you're the top-seed.
And for Bergen, deservingly so.
His light blonde hair drifted with the gentle breeze as he waited for what felt like forever for the start of the 1,600m at the St. Vrain HOKA Invitational last Friday.
Those final moments before the start of the race can feel like hours.
But this wasn't just any moment.
For Bergen, this was his first honest effort in his signature event of the season, and he was doing it a week before the 2022 Colorado State Track & Field Championships.
This was a test.
And for Bergen -- who is headed to Stanford University next year as one of its top recruits -- he doesn't get Cs. It's As, or Bs. The bar is that high.
Just three days earlier, he had torched four sub-2 minute 800s as a workout. He knew he was fit. But now the only questioning remaining was how he'd perform on the day it mattered -- and it's the question that remains for this weekend's state meet.
When the gun finally shot into the mild Colorado night, Bergen exploded off the line.
The Niwot senior wasted no time dilly-dallying with the pace or the race. This was about racing at true effort, win or lose. This was about running fast.
Bergen raced several strides in front of the massive pack through the opening quarter just over 61 seconds. He took light strides and appeared to float over the track with effortless speed.
Around the track he went. The gap between him and his chasers only opened more with each stride.
He hit the halfway point around 2:04 and then followed that up with another 63-second-plus second lap. As the bell echoed out across the stadium, Bergen passed the line while the clock ticked passed 3:07.
Now it was time to kick.
Bergen went to work in the arms, pumping in his classical circular motion. His red spikes clawed lightly on the track as he continued to pour on the pace with perceived minimal effort. His blonde hair pasted back onto his skull from the dizzying speed.
The Niwot senior hit the final straight entirely on his own. In his own race. His stellar poker face revealed absolutely nothing as he continue to sprint towards the line. His eyes shifted slightly to the left as he eyed the clock intently.
When he crossed, it read "4:08.54" in bright bold numerals.
Bergen hung around the finish line briefly to congratulate his competitors on their run, while many wide-eyed competitors shared the sentiment.
As he made his way back towards his bag to take his spikes off, he was met with a barrage of congrats and hand-shakes and high-fives. Those big lights from above followed him like a spotlight everywhere he went.
One competitor shook his head in disbelief as he shook Bergen's hand and said "congratulations." In response, the Niwot senior said "thanks ... and are you running the 4x4?"
"Yes" was the response, to which Bergen replied: "I'll see you there, man!"
So that was it. His time of 4:08 was just another day in the life of the Niwot senior, who over the past year-and-a-half has had a rocket-trajectory into Colorado's distance-running history.
Nevermind that his 4:08 ranks him No. 3 in Colorado ever, and that until the magical 2021 season, he would've broken a 40 year-old state record. It's also the second time Bergen has broken 4:10 in Colorado.
But for Bergen, the time was just another performance, and another day. Perhaps his nonchalantness about it could be summed up with the fact that he's not here just to win races, or run fast. He's here to be the best version of himself. And he feels that there's plenty of work to do.
It's always been this way.
The Five-Foot, Two-Inch, 100-pound Squirmy Kid
While most athletes with Bergen's talent pretty much know or at least show hints of their abilities very early on, that wasn't exactly the case when he first arrived at Niwot.
Bergen endured mild success through middle school, though he was never fully invested in running. He got his first taste of Niwot at an Open House. It was there where he limped through the halls with crutches and a massive knee-brace, compliments of a recent ski-accident.
"I walked into Kelly's (Christiansen) office and said 'hey I'm looking to join the cross country team.' He said 'Whenever you get those crutches off, you're always welcome.'"
For Christiansen, that first memory remains strong.
"I remember seeing him with those ginormous ears, and he was half the height," Christiansen joked.
But when Bergen arrived at practice crutch-free in the summer, he slowly began to find his stride.
"What got me hooked was showing up for cross country freshman year and having the team welcome a five-foot-two, not even breaking 100-pounds, little squirmy kid into their family," Bergen admitted.
He finished 50th at the 2018 Colorado State Cross Country Championships as a freshman and owned a season-best of 17:05. The following outdoor season he ran 2:07 in the 800m, 4:48 in the 1,600m, and 10:36 in the 3,200m. Looking back, it's hard to see the runner that would one day break the national 5K cross country record -- he was one of four athletes to do it last November -- but he was always there.
Christiansen's first glimpse of Bergen's full potential came at the 2019 Colorado State Cross Country Championships.
"When we saw him out-perform what we expected at state that year," Christiansen explained. "And just knowing who was graduating, who he'd have to chase down and knowing his personality, I knew immediately after he crossed the line."
Bergen finished 12th in 16:30 that year as a sophomore, nearly a full minute ahead of his freshman performance.
What happened next would go down as one of the greatest predictions to date.
"You're Next"
Following Bergen's sophomore performance at the state meet, Christiansen casually approached the sophomore and delivered a prediction that has already come true.
"You're next," is what Christiansen told him, implying that the sophomore would be next in line to reign over the state.
"We knew Zane was tough, and we knew he had all the tangibles to be a great leader, and a great runner," Christiansen said.
The prophecy delivered just moments after finishing 12th at state struck Bergen as a little off.
"It was really weird to think at the time (being next,)" Bergen said. "I remember thinking there's a lot of work to do."
But Christiansen was more than confident in the young sophomore.
"His eyes got really big," Christiansen shared. "Initially he was a bit shocked, then the more it settled in he believed it."
As history would have it, Bergen would have to wait before showing the state what Christiansen saw, as COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 outdoor season. Though eventually, he would.
Before the outdoor season went down, Bergen ran a 4:29 1,600m PR at the Simplot Games. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
"I knew if I trusted the process good things would come," Bergen said.
In the condensed, seven-week 2020 cross country season, Bergen very quietly ran his way towards the front of the pack. Heading into the 2020 Colorado State Cross Country Championships, he had tallied a meager two victories on the season. But that didn't really tell the story of how it would end.
It's ironic now, looking back, that Bergen's first state title was somewhat controversial at the time.
The final 100 meters of the state cross country meet saw Bergen and Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos collide as Tuohy-Gaydos drifted to the right just as a flying Bergen was about to pass, sending the Niwot junior to the dirt.
Bergen quickly got up and ran across the finish line... in second. For a few moments after the race, there was confusion as officials huddled to rule that Tuohy-Gaydos did in fact impede on Bergen's progress, thus deserving a disqualification.
Bergen was awarded the CHSAA Class 4A state cross country title. And that would be the last time he let a state race go down to a final 100-meter kick: The 2021 outdoor track season belonged to the future Stanford Cardinal.
While his junior cross country season barely hinted at just how fast he'd run, his outdoor track season put it on full display.
Bergen went out to sweep the distance events at the 2021 Colorado State Track and Field Championships in dominating fashion. Perhaps the most impressive part of this feat was that he ran (what-was-then) Colorado PRs of 1:51.26 in the 800m on Friday, and a mind-numbing 4:09.51 in the 1,600m -- in pouring rain -- on Saturday in his fourth event in three days. The latter made him the third Coloradan in 2021 to break the previous state record that stood for 40-years. Add that it was a 4A state meet record. And that wasn't even the final exclamation point on his junior year.
A week later, Bergen torched a 4:03.90 full-mile at The Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon.
His senior cross country season was nothing short of a victory lap around Colorado, as he defended his 4A Colorado State Cross Country Championship title and crossed the finish line in first.
While he could've capped his season there as a success, he went on to once more raise the bar on himself.
Bergen toed the line the arguably the highest quality cross country meet ever assembled at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships.
In the fastest race ever run, Bergen officially became the fastest fourth-pace finisher in history. He dipped under the previous national record, running 14:09.9 to finish fourth.
A week later, he went on to finish fourth at the Eastbay Cross Country Championships.
During his senior outdoor senior, he's already run personal best of 1:50.01 in the 800m, which is a state-leading time, and that ranks him No. 2 ever in Colorado. He's also run 4:08.
While Bergen has shined bright in his own right, he's consistently been quick to give credit where credit is due.
All About The Community
"No individual result is gained alone," Bergen reflected. "You have such a big support system with your teammates, coaches, family and friends. It's not worth it to do it alone. It's always that much sweeter when you're doing it with someone else."
A prime example of the previous statement came just a few months ago, when Niwot finished second at the CHSA Class 4A State Cross Country Championships, to perhaps the fastest team in Colorado history: Cheyenne Mountain.
Bergen could've been ecstatic for his own result -- an individual state title -- but he quickly looked inward, ruminating over the many other ways he could've raced that would've helped Niwot in the team race.
For him, it's not about the individual performance. He races for his friends, his team, his community.
"(It's) the ability to do it for something greater than yourself," Bergen explained. "It makes the losses heavier and the wins lighter. Niwot has given me so much."
And the community isn't just confined to the Niwot family for Bergen. He sees all runners as a tribe, as one in being with the same team, despite opposing singlets. It's why it's been a common theme for Bergen to rally up finishers following a race for a photo.
"If you're a runner, you have a community, always," Christiansen explained. "We wanted to bring it to a community culture, and not a rivalry culture. Zane's biggest - normally what we would have called 'rivals' - are his training partners."
As the saying goes, success begets success.
And in Colorado, that much is clear, because the 2022 edition of the Colorado Outdoor State Track and Field Championships is on tap to be a high quality affair from the first finisher to the 18th.
"The Best State Meet Of All Time"
"The sheer amount of great runners that come out of Colorado is amazing," Bergen reflected on the coming State meet. "I know last year records were broken, but there's nowhere near the depth that there is this year."
The truth is in the numbers.
A staggering 18 boys ran 1:58.08 or faster in the CHSAA Class 4A 800m this year, while 18 ran 4:22 or faster in the Class 4A 1,600m. Likewise, 20 ran 9:36 or faster in the Class 4A 3,200m.
"It's loaded this year in the distance events," Christiansen agreed.
To give a historical comparison, in 2019 13 boys ran 1:58.09 or faster in the 800, 11 ran 4:22 or faster in the 1,600, and 11 ran 9:36 or faster in the 3,200.
And a decade ago the numbers were 9 under the mark in the 800, two under 4:22 in the 1,600, and two under 9:36 in the 3,200.
"I love when the bar is raised, and when people respond," Christiansen shared. "It's just exciting to see kids run fast."
For Bergen, that means having to race at the best of his abilities three times - four if you count the relay.
"I'm really looking forward to racing this year," he explained. "If it's anything like it's been this season, it's going to be the best state meet of all time."
Bergen referenced a few of his battles this season, including a dual to the line with Longmont's Connor McCormick at the Boulder County Track Championships, where McCormick captured a rare victory over Bergen, running 4:11 to Bergen's 4:12.
The team race looks tight on paper, and Bergen and Christiansen are well aware.
"The biggest thing with State as a culture is that it's team-first," Christiansen said. " And Zane is 100% about the team."
While Bergen gets giddy with excitement about the coming days, he's quick to acknowledge his place in the bigger picture.
"I'm looking to score as many points as I can, because that's what it's going to take to win the team race."
