David Garcia and Griffin Hay helped take Fort Colllins from a state title threat to the #4 team nationally in a little over two months. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Boys Runner of the Year: Spencer Wenck, Palmer Ridge
For a brief moment, Will Kincaid threatened to make a contest of this. Kincaid came within a whisker of Wenck's time at the state meet running under blustery conditions in the 5A race. Wenck ran under much calmer conditions in the 4A race. But Kincaid's post-season, as good as it was, simply could not compare to Wenck's 2nd-place finish at NXN-SW and 5th-place finish at NXN. I don't think any of us realized just how strong Wenck's season was until his post-season performances. And, he did post an undefeated season in the state.
Girls Runner of the Year: Kelsey Lakowske
After Liberty Bell, this one had "Eleanor Fulton" written all over it. The Highlands Ranch senior had, under heat that wilted the rest of the field, shattered a course record of more than 30 years' standing. But that would prove to be the high point of Fulton's season. On the first weekend in October, a new story began to be written--the story of Kelsey Lakowske's comeback. An unfortunate fall for Fulton about 400 meters into the state race may have disrupted an exhilirating showdown between Fulton and Lakowske at the state meet. Lakowske went on to an unexpectedly easy win at state. In the post-season, however, Lakowske was dominant at both Foot Locker Midwest and Foot Locker Nationals, sealing her selection as Girls Runner of the Year.
Coach of the Year: Brian Mathews, Centaurus
In case you hadn't noticed, the Warrior girls went from 14th in 4A in 2009 to 5th in 4A in 2010. They did that despite losing their top gun and a state medalist, Torie Weprin, to graduation. The boys went from a team that didn't even make the state meet to the 12th-place team in 4A. Nope, no titles to claim for Centaurus, but Coach Mathews has put this program on the map. If Centaurus isn't on your personal 4A radar screen for next year, you've missed a couple of serious clues. In a county that's never been short of cross country powerhouses, there's a new powerhouse on the block. In a region where it's always been tough to qualify for state, it's now even tougher. The most noteworthy coaching jobs don't always end up in state championships--at least not right away.
Some honorable mentions here: Chris Suppes, Fort Collins - this one ended up in two state championships and two national top-six finishes. Year in and year out, nobody does it better than Chris Suppes. Brett Shanklin, Frontier Academy - first year of the program and he has both teams at state. The girls are a serious 3A power already. Watch for bigger things to come from this team. Stan Lambros and Karen Scott, Cheyenne Mountain - this program had a long history of getting to state and suffering one collapse after another on the big stage. That would apply to both the boys and the girls. Until this year, that is. Lambros and Scott exorcised a few demons and made a formidable monster out of this program, sweeping the 4A titles. Kent Rieder, Monarch - Most of us saw the boys' program at Monarch coming along. What we didn't see was the rapid rise of the girls' program. The Monarch girls had a sensational year and sustained the magic well enough right through the end of the season to finish 15th at NXN.
Boys Story of the Year
Clearly, this one belongs to the Fort Collins boys. In 2009, the Fort Collins boys came to the state meet as a team out of gas. And they ran like it, too. At Liberty Bell in 2010, they showed signs of being very possibly the best team in Colorado, but were still smoked--and badly, too--by the Albuquerque Academy boys. At NXN-SW, Fort Collins managed to qualify for nationals (in part by returning the favor Albuquerque Academy had dealt them two months earlier), but were still mostly just a footnote to the American Fork story of domination. At NXN, Fort Collins had their moment in the sun. In what's becoming something as reliable as sunrise and sunset, the Fort Collins teams are posting the biggest results when the pressure is the most intense. If that isn't the mark of a great team, please tell me what is.
Girls Story of the Year
This isn't a story of one great team--though it could be. This is the story of many great teams. The sheer number of great teams is the story. Cherry Creek was probably about the 8th best girls team in the state (give or take a place or two) and yet they traveled to the prestigious Griak Invitational and took second in a field studded with top teams from the upper Midwest and beyond. Boulder and Arapahoe didn't even make the trip to NXN-SW, Eleanor Fulton didn't go down with her Highlands Ranch teammates, Pine Creek went down as a shell of the team that rattled several cages early in the season, and yet Colorado teams still secured six of the top 10 team places there. What do we do for an encore next year?
Cinderella Story of the Year
This story may have about three more years to repeat itself, but the Hotchkiss girls made a lot of believers this year. Ultimately, they would finish second in 3A, but the Bulldogs ripped through all the best competition the western slope could offer. They did it week after week after week. They did it on hilly courses; they did it on flat courses. Hotchkiss did suffer a bit of an off weekend at regionals, but came back to vindicate themselves at state. Three of the top four runners this year were freshmen. The other was a sophomore. That should indicate a few more years of fun for coach Kelly Cowan.
Note: More Best of 2010 to come over the next few days, probably under a separate article.