With a mile to go it was anyone's race.
A pack of five cruised over the dirt around 5:20-pace, but things were about to pick up in the boys D1 race at the D'Evelyn Dash.
There was Chatfield's, Camden Law, Golden's Henry Stubenrauch, Conifer's Wyatt Bly, and the ThunderRidge duo of Evan Charkut and Owen Casselman.
The only question with a mile to go was who would attack first.
Conifer's Bly - who clearly put in a great summer of miles - surged hard to put his name on the race. But hovering not to far behind him was ThunderRidge's Charkut.
As the pace picked up, the race stretched out, and soon it was down to two.
Charkut used the final half-mile to storm to his first cross country victory, running a personal best of 16:29. Bly finished four-seconds back in 16:33 - also a PR.
It's of note that this was a new course, and personal bests were not plentiful - Charkut and Bly seemingly ran themselves onto the map following great summers of training.
Stubenrauch finished third in 16:39, while Law was fourth in 16:43, and Casselman was fifth in 16:46.
In the team race ThunderRidge looked impressive, putting all five-scoring runners inside the top-nine, and under 17:25. They tallied a jaw-dropping 28 points to claim the team title. Chatfield took second with 128, while Littleton was third with 140.
While we're just two weeks into the 2022 cross country season, we've had quite few reveals of sorts, as the work put in while no one was looking over the summer is now on full display.
RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS
Next Page: Amy O'Connell Dominates The Girls D1 Race