Logan Gullett could feel it now.
He was 20 meters away from the finish line at the Rocky Mountain Lobo Invitational Saturday morning, and he had shed all challengers.
Gullett's eyes hid behind his sunglass, but the slight smile that stretched across his face said it all: he was enjoying his Saturday morning.
The Eaton senior opened up his senior campaign just like he did a year ago - with a win.
Editor's additional note: Gullett won a staggering eight consecutive races last year before finishing second at the 3A Colorado State Cross Country Championships.
The boys race played host to some of the best in 5A, 3A and 2A.
While the finish belonged to Gullett, Fort Collins' Christian Groendyk made sure he had to work for it.
Two miles earlier Gullett and Groendyk race stride-for-stride through the opening mile while Fossil Ridge's Cy Teruel ran in their shadows a stride back.
And if the race had stopped right there, Fossil Ridge would've had an insanely dominate team victory - they had their five scoring runners inside the top-seven.But the final two miles changed the narrative just a but.
We'll come back to that.
Gullett pressed the pedal to the floor over the next mile, creating a gap between him and Groendyk. Off and away and in familiar territory, Gullett raced on, chasing the bikes.
The Eaton senior held his lead over the final mile, running 16:21 for Win No. 1 of the 2022 season. Groendyk took second 10-seconds back, running 16:31, and then the pencils began their tally. Resurrection Christian's Jackson Fagerlin kicked late to take third just behind Groendyk, running 16:33.
Cy Teruel took fourth in 16:44 to start Fossil Ridge's tally, while Heritage Christian's Ryan O'Loughlin finished fifth in 16:48.
Fort Collins and Fossile Ridge went back and forth as the clock ticked on.
Fort Collins' Leo Cole finished sixth in 16:49, while Fossil Ridge's Kevin Rodgers finished seventh in 16:57, which was just ahead of Rocky Mountains' Alistair Clark, who ran the same time.
Fort Collins countered with Liam Von Fischer, who ran 17:00, though Fossil Ridge's Joey Souverein and Carter Brazelton finished 10-11, tilting the team race in their favor.
But Fort Collins wasn't done.
Evan Christopherson finished 13th, and Parker Nowland closed the door, finishing 16th.
Fort Collins tallied 46 points to claim the team title, which was just six-points ahead of Fossil Ridge's 52. Rocky Mountain took third with 117.
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