4A girls cross country: Niwot rolls to individual and team titles

COLORADO SPRINGS – There was a time where it would’ve been easy for Eva Klingbeil to give up. The Niwot senior had never advanced to the state cross country meet completely healthy. But it was the drive of her teammates that kept bringing her back.

For that effort she was rewarded with a time of 17 minutes, 58.9 seconds to claim the Class 4A girls cross country title. And that individual win helped the Cougars set the tone as they rolled to a team championship as well.

“She wouldn’t have hung around if she didn’t have all her teammates,” coach Kelly Christensen said. “Usually when someone has experienced disappointment like that, they give up.”

In Klingbeil’s case, she rose to the occasion. She was not pegged as the top runner for the Cougars but she put together a time that was a second better than what then-Air Academy freshman Bethany Michalak finished in to claim gold. Michalak led the race through two miles but an injury prevented her from taking a second straight title.

“I wasn’t thinking about the individual title since I’m usually not the first runner on the team (to cross the finish line),” Klingsbeil said. “I’m still taking it in. It took me by surprise when I passed Bethany and I found myself in front.”

She crossed to win her first race of the season and the biggest race of her running career. Before she even had a chance to relish the individual win, she turned her attention and watched as her teammates poured over the finish line.

Mia Prok took third after taking second place a year ago. Freshman Bella Nelson finished fifth in her first attempt at the state meet, setting herself up for some big expectations in the years to come.

“It felt pretty good, but there were some nerves,” she said. “This was my first year and usually my nerves stop when I’m on the line and ready. They go away when I’m focused.’

This is the fourth straight team championship for Niwot, and this title was won as the team came into the Norris Penrose Event Center with perhaps the biggest expectations among every team that lined up to race on Saturday.

Winning the team title felt like a foregone conclusion considering the Cougars were the top-ranked team in the state by MileSplit, but it was the way in which they won it with Klingsbeil crossing the finish line first, that was a true measure of just how special this team was.

“It felt different this year,” Christensen said. “Normally we feel that pressure from past years. The girls were all so close in terms of ability and fitness. They knew they were really good and they had confidence. Some might be disappointed in today because things didn’t go the way they could have. A couple of our top girls didn’t have their best days but we don’t have a pecking order and we preach that.”

With no pecking order, it makes the goal very clear. This team was out to win for everyone and when trophies were handed out it was everyone who got to lift another team championship.