With many schools entered in this meet, all eyes will be on the state course this Friday as some big names and competitive schools look to race at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede! Check out some of the potential storylines of the meet.
The biggest story could be Aiden Le Roux of Cheyenne Mountain High School, where Le Roux won this meet last year in an incredible time of 15:20! He has also ran a time of 15:02 on this course during the state meet. With weather conditions looking a little more on the warm side, we may not see a sub-15 minute performance yet, but Le Roux has a lot of strength and skill when it comes to this course, so it will be exciting to see what he puts together tomorrow.
Some other names entered in the championship division for the boys include the Dann Twins of Castle View High School. Both Evan and Wyatt had incredibly strong freshmen seasons. Just like many others on this list, these two have put together a strong summer and will place themselves in the lead pack. They may experience the biggest jump in fitness because of their youth, and their PRs of 15:06 and 15:14 put them right in the mix of the rest of the field.
Ben Lee of ThunderRidge High School is also slated to race in the championship division. Lee had a consistent junior year, placing high in all of his fall races. He also competed in very competitive fields and finished ahead of other names on this meet's entry list.
For the boys' small school division, that race is looking very competitive as well. Joel Davis of Lamar High School highlights the field with the fastest 5k time of 16:02. He is also one of the top returners from Class 3A. He is the returning champion from this meet a year ago in the small school division, so he will be the one to beat.
However, there is a duo of 2A superstars, who will try and challenge Davis. First, Gabe Gatti of Peyton High School is racing in the small school division this season. Last year, he did race in the championship division, but based off of his results in that race, he would have placed 2nd by only a few seconds behind Davis. He will definitely be in the mix when it comes to the end of the race.
Next is Shawn Kipchumba of Thomas MacLaren who will also look to try and take an early season win. He does have one of the faster times on this course, running 16:47. It is a little bit behind Davis' time of 16:28 on the same course from the state meet. However, Kipchumba performed his best on this course at the end of the season, so he will place himself in the front pack, and it will be a race to the finish.
On the girls' side, the team race could be interesting with Air Academy High School and Chaparral High School going at it. This will give us our first view on how some of the 5A girls' teams are looking this season.
In terms of the individual title, Chamorra Cooper of Air Academy comes in with the fastest PR of 17:08, just slightly faster than Emry Schwalm of Heritage High School. For Cooper, she has had an incredible sophomore year, with impressive PRs during the track season. She is riding a lot of momentum going into her junior year.
For Schwalm, she has placed well at this meet, finishing 2nd overall last year in the championship division. She was also only a few seconds and a couple places behind Cooper at the 5A Cross County State Championship, which will make this a very fun showdown.
However, Chaparral High School also has a handful of girls who could challenge for the win, including Sky St. Louis and Kapri Parry. St. Louis may not have the fastest 5k PR (though still very fast - 17:33) compared to the other girls on the entries list, but she was only a freshman last year. She grew immensely during the spring season and with that kind of maturity, St. Louis may just find herself up with the leaders. Parry also finished in similar position with St. Louis, so these two teammates will definitely work together.
Cooper and Schwalm will also have their own teammates to work with as well, and they will be in the mix to take the win. Starting with Jordan Banta of Air Academy, Banta has a personal best time of 17:15, one of the fastest times in this field. At the state meet, Banta finished well and placed within the mix of the other girls on this entries list, so she will work with Cooper and the rest of the girls to a fast finish.
Finally Schwalm will have her teammate in Caroline Fender, who finished 3rd a year ago at this race. Both Schwalm and Fender finished incredibly close to each other during the fall season, so there is very little doubt this year will not be any different. Fender also finished in between Cooper and Schwalm at the state meet, so she could also be a wild card to finish high up or take the victory.
All in all, this weekend is going to be incredibly exciting and will give us the first look at where individuals and teams are at for the 2025 cross country season!