COLORADO SPRING - — The best high school runners from all over Colorado, ascended to Colorado Springs on Saturday, for the 2020 CHSAA cross country state championships at the Norris-Penrose Event Center.
Plenty of Southern Colorado teams took home some hardware from the event.
In the 3A race, the Classical Academy dominated both the boys' & girls' competition.
TCA's Kennedy McDonald took home second place with a time of 19:13.4, with teammates Cassidy McDonald (19;35.1) & Sophia Valentine (19.27.5) finishing 8th & 9th respectively.
The Lady Titans would also go onto win the first place team trophy for the 2nd straight year with 65 points & a team time of 1:40:40.
"It feels really good," said McDonald. "I know that in the past, our team had like a 10-year winning streak. So I guess we will try and see how long we can do this."
On the boys' side, the Titans would take home the state runner-up trophy with 76 points & a team time of 1:27:12.
"Obviously, we were hoping to do a bit better," said TCA senior Nathaniel Brim. "We have been going back and forth with Frontier Academy this whole year, but we are really excited to be where we are and placing this year with everything we have overcome."
Also in 3A, Manitou Springs junior Henry Ilyasova finished in 8th place with a time of 16:57.6.
In 4A, Air Academy freshman Bethany Michalak would take home the gold with a time of 17:58.1, as the Lady Kadets would finish 3rd overall as a team.
"It is incredible," said Michalak. "I do not think I have fully processed it. It is just incredible to get this opportunity as a freshman and just to run state with COVID-19. I am just grateful this was able to happen."
Lewis Palmer's Aubrey Surge (5th place - 18:29.6) & Cheyenne Mountain's Hope Stark (7th place - 19:04.0) would also finish in the top 10.
On the 4A boys' side, Cheyenne Mountain's Erik Le Roux finished in 6th place with a of time of 15:46.0.
As a team, the Indians captured the state runner-up trophy with 63 total points and a team time of 1:21:09.
"I feel like we could of gone for the win," Le Roux said after the race. "I mean, we were planning to get top two and earn, at least, some type of trophy in general. We are satisfied with second, but next year we are defiantly going for something bigger."
Palmer's Scott Prieve would also finish in 8th with a time of 15:51.9.
In the 2A ranks, there was some history made for the Vanguard School.
Junior Ella Johnson won the program first cross country title with a time of 19:35.5, with Peyton's Eowyn Dalbec taking second place (19:43.7).
"It's crazy," said Johnson. "I'm really surprised is all I can say."
On the 2A boys' side, Custer County's Micah Zeller had an impressive second place finish at 16:47.3.
"To finish my high school cross country season with a top 10 finish means a lot," added Zeller
Heritage Christian Academy, in Colorado Springs, would take first place as a team with 54 points and a team time of 1:13:46. Peyton would finish third (64 points, team time of 1:13:42), with St. Mary's (87 points, team time of 1:14:25) coming in fourth place.
And in the 5A boys' race, two Southern Colorado runners also came in second and third.
Rampart's Ben Conlin finished with a time of 15:27.0 (second place), while Pine Creek's Caleb Boutelle took home a time of 15:31.0 (third place).
