If the girl's 4A/5A race at St. Vrain Invitational could be any meal, it'd be a deep-dish pizza with a ton of toppings sprinkled over it.
We're talking pepperoni, mushrooms, parsley, sausage, black olives, pineapple, garlic, and extra-extra cheese.
The works.
This race was loaded.
And to top it off, there was the 3A No. 2 verses the 4A No. 1,
Isabel Allori and Ella Hagen have already put together insanely impressive seasons, and Saturday's race only added to it.
The battle between the two was entertaining to say the least.
Editor's Note: Allori has run 17:20 in Wyoming. While the performance was run at similar altitudes as most of Colorado's Front Range, it does not show in Colorado rankings since it was run out of state. Taking this performance into consideration, we could say it was the fastest 3A runner verses the fastest 4A runner.
Through the opening mile it appeared that everyone was still in the race.
The reality was Allori and Hagen were patiently biding their time.
The St. Vrain course is not for the faint of heart. This course is punishing over time, which tends to lend towards a more cautious approach if you're looking to cross the line first.
In this pack of just over half a dozen were Mountain Vista's Brooke Adams and Peyton Adams, Niwot's Bella Nelson, Addison Ritzenhein, Madison Shults, and Olivia Alessandrini, Silver Creek's Cloe Ruth, and Allori and Hagen.
As tight as this pack was, Allori and Hagen made sure to blow it to pieces before the race crossed the red track and into the final kick.
The duo torched the final half of the race, and it would be the Liberty Common junior who used the hilly final mile to create a gap between her and Hagen.
Allori went on to run 17:59 - that's the fourth-fastest time ever run on this course, and just eight-seconds off Kelsey Lakowske's 17:51 course record from 2009.
The win marked Allori's third consecutive victory this season. Currently she has a clean slate!
On the topic of threes, Hagen picked up her third consecutive runner-up finish, running 18:07 - that's the seventh-fastest time run on the course.
The Summit sophomore has been just a few strides back in all three runner-up finishes. In other words: she's been in the mix every time she's toed the line.
Niwot's Nelson and Ritzenhein went 3-4, running 18:39 and 18:42, while Mountain Vista's Adams' sisters went 4-6, with Brooke running 18:44, and Peyton running 18:46.
Fossil Ridge's Tatum Berg kicked late to catch Shults on the line, running 18:53.7 to Shults' 18:53.8 to make it eight under 19-minutes on this tough course.
Watch the race play out above!
