This weekend's Pat Amato Classic at the Open Spaces Park XC Course showcased Wyoming's Cheyenne Central High School, who made a strong statement against some of Colorado's best. Meanwhile Rocky Mountain High School put up a strong fight across the boys' and girls' varsity and JV races.
On the girls' side, Cheyenne Central Senior, Adalyn Racines took the win with a time of 17:28.61—over two minutes ahead of second place. After missing last weekend's Dave Sanders Invitational due to weather cancellation, Racines ran just 15 seconds off her PR time from the Liberty Bell Cross Country Invitational earlier this season.
Rocky Mountain High School girls took the varsity team win, however, with a 22 point lead over Cheyenne Central. Rocky Mountain freshman Jordyn Grossnickle led the team with a third place finish. In the JV race, Cheyenne Central's young underclassmen girls squad took first by just 5 points ahead of Rocky Mountain High School.
Cheyenne Central's Sophmore, Cal Bibbey took the first place finish in the Varsity boys race in 15:36.15. Rocky Mountain High School's boys took five of the top 15 spots earning them the first place team finish 38 points ahead of second-place Horizon High School.
Stand-out Freshman Rigby Ruffer from Rocky Mountain High School showed out with a second place finish in a top-10 pack of upperclassmen. Ruffer is currently ranked as one of the top Colorado freshmen boys in the 5k with a PR this season of 15:52.73 at Liberty Bell.
Rocky Mountain High School's boys also took the JV win ahead of second-place Arvada West High School's boys.
Alongside a strong group of upperclassmen including Miyah Crist, Elise Imsland, and Mackenna Matthews on the girls' side, and Caleb Emery and Will Raguet-Schofield on the boys' side, Rocky Mountain High School's depth among its underclassmen in both the JV and varsity races points to a bright future. As the program continues to develop, Rocky Mountain High School looks poised to be a team to watch in the coming years.