Jeffco crowns league cross country champions at NAAC

ARVADA — The long cross country road for Chatfield senior Reese Tucker ended with a first-place finish Wednesday at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Tucker won the girls Class 5A Jeffco League individual title at the conference championships with a time of 19 minutes, 16.4 seconds. It was a long time coming for her first individual league title. Tucker finished runner-up to Pomona’s Emma Stutzman her freshman year back in 2020. 

Stutzman dominated the Jeffco League championships the past four years and finished her stellar prep career last spring winning the 1,600 and 3,200 at the track and field state championships.

“I took second to Emma my freshman year. I knew I had it in my all four years,” Tucker said. “I just had injuries my sophomore and junior year. It felt good to finally be able to do this.”

Dealing with injuries last year, Tucker finished in the mid-20s at the league championships and didn’t make all-conference. It was a different story this time around at the new course at NAAC that ran into the soccer stadium.

“It was definitely a really hard course, but I liked it,” Tucker said. “It was a good challenging league course to set you up for state where there are a lots of hills.”

Dakota Ridge senior Hanan Aldelemy finished second just over three seconds behind Tucker. Lakewood junior Sophia Christensen placed third. Chatfield also took the team title for the third time over the past four years.

On the 5A boys side, Pomona senior Aden Reinoehl’s kick in the final 800 meters allowed him to over take rival — Ralston Valley senior Owen Eicher — to take a come-from-behind victory.

“For once I played it smart and strategic,” Reinoehl said of his race. “I took the first two miles just sticking in the top 8. That last mile I started catching up and then I got to second around the lake. I knew I could get that last hill. I kicked and went for it.”

Reinoehl finished with a time of 16:46.1 for nearly a 7-second victory over Eicher. Valor sophomore Griffin Mazeski placed third.

“Owen for sure and the Valor kid (Griffin Mazeski) who took third,” Reinoehl said of who he felt was his main competition. “Owen and I have a rivalry. He is the guy I have to stick with going into that last mile.”

Ralston Valley did claim the team title by a wide margin. Arvada West placed second, 46 points behind the Mustangs that had three top-7 finishers (Eicher, Keaton Westley and Ashton Rasmussen).

Conifer’s girls cross country team did something on the 4A side that it hadn’t done in more than 20 years. The Lobos won the team league title. Conifer was led by senior Audrey VanWestrienen, who won the individual title with a time of 19:13.7.

“It is so exciting,” VanWestrienen said of the Lobos capturing their first girls cross country league title since 2002. “Our team is amazing. Everyone had been crushing it this year. It’s great to see everyone crushing their goals.”

VanWestrienen, junior Kate Horneck, sophomore Gianna Cicora and freshman Selamnesh Dusharm all finished in the top-7 for the Lobos.

Wheat Ridge senior Arabella England was runner-up about a dozen seconds behind VanWestrienen. Golden sophomore Sophia Halverson took third.

Littleton was able to sweep the 4A boys team and individual races. The Lions edged three-time defending league champion Conifer by a single point. It was the first time Littleton had ever won the 4A Jeffco League boys cross country team title.

Henrik Chojnacki had the best winning celebration of any of the individual champion. The Littleton sophomore leaped across the finish line as he finished in a time of 16:42, the fastest time of all races.