When you look around for people with regional races that sent a message, these two go right to the top. Photos by Alan Versaw and Daniel Hartman-Strawn.
Marking the final competition before athletes will toe the line of the cross country state course, the regional races make for an exciting day and frequently serve to distinguish the top contenders for Colorado’s cross country championship meet. As two of the athletes now approaching the state meet with a regional title attached to their names, Ashi Geberkidane and Katie Rainsberger have made it clear that they are ones to watch out for this Saturday.
For Geberkidane, this regional title marked back-to-back winning weekends. Winning the Denver Prep league title last week, Geberkidane won the 5A region 1 meet this past Thursday in an astonishing time of 15:13.
What’s even more impressive is that this has all happened in Geberkidane’s first high school cross country season. The senior from Denver East High School played varsity soccer for his school through his junior year. Now as a player for the Real Colorado Academy Team, Geberkidane can no longer play for his high school team per USA Soccer rules.
“Running has been in my family for a very long time,” Geberkidane said, “My brother (Cerake Geberkidane) and I have been running since we were three, but I liked soccer more so I chose the soccer over the running. My brother told me he wanted to run with me again so we made a bet that if I made the Academy team for soccer, I would run cross country with him.” Geberkidane ended up making that team and now he is a top contender for the 5A cross country title.
Feeling excited about his win on Thursday, Geberkidane also understands that he now has a huge target on his back for this weekend’s state meet. “I definitely feel the pressure,” Geberkidane said, “but I’m not letting that get in my head.”
To help keep that pressure off, Geberkidane is focusing on doing his part to help lead his Denver East team to success. “I’m really hoping that we can do well as a team,” Geberkidane said, “We’ve been working really hard and we have a good chance of taking first as a team. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Katie Rainsberger is also having a very impressive first cross country season. The freshman from Air Academy High School won the 4A Region 2 individual title by a very large margin on Thursday, running 17:40 all by herself.
“I was really hoping to break 18 minutes,” Rainsberger said, “and I figured that this would be my last chance to do it. I was amazed when I came around the corner and my mom told me I was at 17 flat. I took off, got to the chute, and was super excited when I finished.”
This success is nothing new to Rainsberger. As a top runner in middle school, Rainsberger has been anticipating this step up to high school competition. “I thought high school running would have a lot more pressure and everyone would be really intense,” Raingsberger said, “but it’s been really great. I’m having a blast.”
Raisnberger’s debut season has been a steady progression of notable performances. Running her first 5K at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede, Rainsberger clocked a 19:58. Dropping significant chunks of time off at each race after, Rainsberger now finds herself in sub 18 territory and as a top prospect for the 4A state title.
“I’m nervous and excited for state,” Rainsberger offered, “I’m anxious to be on the start line and go out and race but I’m excited because there will be so many fast girls to race with.”
No doubt there will be very fast girls to accompany Rainsberger around the course. In her first state meet, however, Rainsberger feels little pressure, “I’m ready to just run as hard as I can.”
And so as Colorado’s fastest runners look ahead to this weekend that so much preparation has gone into, Colorado Track XC honors Ashi Geberkidane and Katie Rainsberger for their standout performances in their regional meets. Best of luck to both of these athletes and to the rest of the qualifiers for the state meet as they look ahead to finishing their seasons off strong in the Colorado State XC Championships.