This week's athletes of the week go to the winners from the largest and the smallest meets of the past week. Photos by Paul Jaeger.
This week, Colorado Track XC honors Jordyn Colter and Jacob Benson as the standout athletes of the week. Running on courses that could not be more distinctly opposite of each other, Colter and Benson’s performances this weekend have established them each as athletes who will be top contenders in meets to come and have grabbed the attention of competitors and fans around the state.
After finishing an extremely impressive freshman season in cross country, athletes and coaches throughout Colorado knew that Jordyn Colter would be a name mentioned many times in the next few seasons to come. Colter’s performance this weekend at the Liberty Bell Invitational put an exclamation point on that expectation. The sophomore from Cherry Creek High School won the distinctively fast meet in a time of 17:01. That time put her in first by over 35 seconds and smashed the course record by 33 seconds.
Going into the race, Colter knew that she wanted to break her previous personal record of 17:31 but, other than that, she had no expectations to crush either the competition or the clock by as much as she did.
Making her move at the 1.5 mile mark to take the lead and separate from the pack, Colter increased her pace and realized with that change in intensity she had a shot at tracking down both her personal record and the course record. “I’m used to pushing hard on my own with all the hard training I’ve been doing in practice,” Colter said, “I’m ready to pick up the pace. It just comes naturally.”
Running a time on the 17 minute mark has catapulted Colter to being ranked among the top of the nation. Colter, however, understands that her success has not come without the help of the competition back home. “I don’t know what I would have done without those other girls,” Colter said, “The competition through the first couple miles really pushed me.” And for Colter, it’s not all just about the competition. “We’re all really great friends but we know when it’s time for competition and time to buckle down. It’s cool that we can have a friendship and compete together.”
Colter heads to the Stanford Cross Country Invitational next weekend to compete in the high school division with her team. No doubt on top of hopes for a big performance at the State meet this season, Colter is also looking to run at Nike Cross Nationals.
As Colter was flying through the fast course at Liberty Bell, Jacob Benson was powering through a very challenging course at the Platte Canyon Husky Invitational. The junior, who attends South Park High School but competes in cross country for Platte Canyon, won the meet by almost a full two minutes in a time of 17:44 just 6 seconds off the course record. To give some perspective on the difficulty of the course, only two boys ran sub 20 minutes on Friday. Benson’s teammate Mason Philips ran 19:34 to finish in second place.
The only significant piece of downhill on the Platte Canyon course comes within the first 400 meters. The rest is mainly uphill. Benson, however, was up for the challenge that day. “I just got into that runners high and all I was focusing on was the beat of my footsteps,” Benson said, “I was really feeling it that day.”
Separating himself from the rest of the competition early in the race and running the majority of the race alone, Benson relied on God and the support of his coach to help guide him to success. “My coach was at a bunch of different places throughout the course cheering me on,” Benson described, “That’s what made me keep up that pace.”
As the runner-up in the 2A 3200 meters at the 2012 state track & field meet, Benson has his eyes set on a top four finish at the 2012 State Cross Country Championships. What is most important to Benson, however, is to be able to be at that meet with the rest of his team and is hoping that the men’s Platte Canyon team will be able to compete together at the state meet.
Congratulations to Colorado Track XC's cross country athletes of the week, Jordyn Colter and Jacob Benson, and best of luck to them as they continue with their training and competition this season.