The wind at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds had a little fun at Will Kincaid's expense (both times). Photo by Alan Versaw.
The spring of 2010 and the beginning of the cross country season gave every indication that it would be a bit of a down year for individual boys' talent in Colorado high school cross country. The talent that graduated in May was staggering. And then Connor Winter's season went spinning out of control with an injury.
Into the 5A vacuum stepped Columbine's Will "Woody" Kincaid. Kincaid finished 11th at state in 2009 and so wasn't at the top of everyone's watch list for 2010, but we watched and took note as he took dismantled the field at the Lori Fitzgerald Pre-State Invitational. But we also doubted; was young Mr. Kincaid as good as...?
Slowly, but surely, Will Kincaid answered the questions. The 11th-place finish in 2009 may not have convinced the observers, but it had sent a sign to Kincaid that he could expect bigger things in 2010 if he worked hard enough at it. He followed up his title at Pre-State with titles at Liberty Bell, Rock Canyon (second year in a row), Dave Sanders, and then at his regional. At state, Dakota Ridge's Danny Carney battled him all the way up Powerline Climb but Kincaid broke away in the final stretch. Will Kincaid had effectively done away with everything 5A could bring against him.
But, questions still lingered. How good was the 5A field in 2010? How would Will Kincaid fare in the post season?
As it turns out, pretty well.
In fact, it was during the post season that the doubters finally stopped doubting. Kincaid raised more than a few eyebrows with a 4th-place finish at Foot Locker Midwest and then backed that performance up with an 11th-place finish at Foot Locker Nationals. What we had seen during the CHSAA-sanctioned season was no fluke.
And with the notoriety occasioned by his outstanding post-season races, Will Kincaid found himself the object of a great deal of recruiting attention. A little over a week past the opening of the national signing period, Kincaid signed his name to the University of Portland letter.
The University of Portland Pilots had a couple of well-played aces in the recruiting process, "I really liked Coach Johnson from the time that he contacted me, but I had some really amazing offers. It really was not until I visited the school and ran through the forest with the team, that I knew Portland was the school for me." Kincaid plans to major in history at Portland, with an emphasis in Mandarin and Eastern Asia Studies.
The "Coach Johnson" referred to above would be Jesse Johnson, formerly a distance coach at Niwot and now the guy at Portland who is making the school a home away from home for a growing number of top high school runners out of Colorado.
Although the cross country season just passed was full of highlights for Kincaid, one highlight stood above the rest. It wasn't Liberty Bell; it wasn't state. It was Dave Sanders.
"Winning the Dave Sanders Memorial Race was very emotional for me. I love running for Columbine, and It was an honor to win my own school's race."
For this coming spring, Kincaid once again has his target set high. The one goal he mentions is, " I want to have the fastest time in the 3200 this year." That should make for an interesting and exciting contest. There are a couple of other young men who have very similar goals. It might be worth making the trip to Jeffco Stadium on May 19 to see how things work out.
