Having left the competition behind, Kelley Robinson wills her way up Powerline Climb. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
Odds are looking good that classmates Kelley Robinson and Rebecca Hermann will make it through high school not knowing the feeling of losing at the state cross country championships. If there was a year they would be vulnerable, this year would have appeared to have been the year.
Whatever chances Lyons may have had at toppling the dynasty, however, went south when Melissa Roberts' health took an unplanned detour on Friday night. Even with a first place finish from the elder Roberts sister, however, Nederland would have prevailed in the team tally. In fact, Nederland--a 2A school--even made an appearance in the power merge of the girls races, placing 11th when scoring all five of their runners in a virtual race of all girls teams competing at the state meet.
This will not be an easy dynasty to topple--at least not until after next year. We'll see what happens in the year following.
None of this is to say, however, that everything was easy for Nederland. Crested Butte's Erin Kelly and Custer County's Valerie Stark put up a tough battle at the front of the pack throughout the first loop. Kelsey Corbin of Mancos and Miriam Roberts of Lyons surged hard late in the race in bids to keep their respective teams in the hunt. Rebecca Hermann could not withstand the determined charges of Roberts and Corbin and finished in fifth. Altogether, six girls finished under 20:00, no small accomplishment for a small-school division on this course.
Bailey Kuechenmeister had to come back from a span of missed meets and sub-par performances to claim tenth and close out the Nederland scoring.
Easy? No. Dominating? Yes.
Lyons edged Crested Butte for second in the team tally, 27 - 29.