Boys Cross Country Regionals Round Up
Photo: Alan Versaw
Individual region recaps and results:
Class 2A: 2A Region 1
Class 3A: 3A Region 1 \ 3A Region 4 \ 3A Region 5
Class 4A: 4A Region 1 \ 4A Region 2 \ 4A Region 3 \ 4A Region 4 \ 4A Region 5
Class 5A: 5A Region 1 \ 5A Region 2 \ 5A Region 4 \ 5A Region 5
AURORA – There were 13 regional champions crowned across all four classifications at today’s cross country regional championships throughout the state. Heritage Christian and Lyons shared the lone title handed out in Class 2A today, while Coal Ridge and Frontier Academy were crowned champions in Class 3A. Cheyenne Mountain, Coronado, Eagle Valley, Niwot and Thompson Valley captured the Class 4A regional titles and in Class 5A, Fort Collins, Grandview, Mountain Vista and Rock Canyon came away with championships.
LYONS – In a race that came down to the last few paces, Lyons’ Sage Wynja (16:55) narrowly beat Strasburg’s Dawit James (16:57) to take home the Boys 2A Region 1 Cross Country Championship at Lyons Middle Senior High School.
Both of the top two finishers were joined in the top 10 by teammates. Lyons’ Cullin Lawhon (18:04) finished seventh, while Strasburg’s Israel James (17:24.7) finished in fourth, just three-tenths of a second behind Clear Creek’s Ocean Caplan-Holdgrafer (17:24.4), who finished third. Clear Creek also had Xander Taylor finish in the top 10 (18:04, placing sixth).
Rounding out the top five was Ian Molgaard (17:52), who, along with ninth-place finisher Kaden Schohl (18:23), helped guide Heritage Christian (45 points) to their first-place tie with Lyons (45 points). Heritage Christian won the tiebreaker, while Clear Creek (56 points), Loveland (57 points), and Strasburg (59 points) rounded out the top five teams.
Antheney Herre (18:05, placing eighth) and Keegan Koonce (18:28, placing 10th) were the other individual racers to place in the top 10.
MORRISON – Moffat County’s Owen Gifford (17:36) took home the Boys 3A Region 1 Cross Country Championship at D’Evelyn High School and Fehringer Open Space. Gifford also helped the Bulldogs to a third-place team finish (79 points) despite being the only top-10 finisher on the team.
Coal Ridge was the top team at the meet (64 points), followed closely by D’Evelyn (68 points) in second place, thanks to both schools having multiple top-10 finishers. Dallin Karren (17:40, placing second) and Asher Nichols (17:57, placing fourth) led the way for Coal Ridge, while John Schrader (17:59, placing fifth) and Jett Cowee (18:00, placing sixth) led the way for D’Evelyn.
Delta (108 points) finished fourth among the teams, despite also having two top-10 finishers in John Dexter (18:14, placing eighth) and Grady Hellmen (18:30, placing 10th). Meanwhile, Basalt was left outside the top-five teams, despite Owen Lambert (17:51) finishing third and Towler Scott (18:09) finishing seventh.
Colorado Academy’s Bryant Pierce (18:26, placing ninth) was the other top-10 individual on a team outside the top five.
Aspen finished as a top-five team (109 points) despite not having a single top-10 individual.
GREELEY – The Boys 3A Region 4 Cross Country Championship at Monfort Park in Greeley featured a remarkable duel between Frontier Academy (33 points, placing first) and Berthoud (40 points, placing second), as both schools boasted four top-10 finishers each.
Frontier Academy was represented in the top 10 by individual champion Darren Hayden (16:06), Kalid Fanning (16:10, placing third), Matthew Hayden (16:45, placing seventh) and Andrew Marr (16:56, placing eighth), while Berthoud was led by Scott Clark (16:13, placing fourth), Tate Bothun (16:35, placing sixth), Benjamin Clopper (16:57, placing ninth), and Ashton Cooper (17:13, placing 10th).
Resurrection Christian placed third among the teams (83 points), thanks to their top runner Jackson Fagerlin (16:08, placing second). Austin Tice (16:27) rounded out the top five and helped Estes Park finish in fifth (144). Liberty Commons (111) finished fourth despite not having a single top-10 finisher.
MORRISON – The Classical Academy dominated the Boys 3A Region 1 Cross Country Championship at D’Eveyln High School and Fehringer Open Space in Morrison, capturing all of the top four placements, and six in the top 10.
The Classical Academy was led by individual champion Matthew Edwards (15:33), Logan Halla (16:30, placing second), Kieran Cameron (16:41, placing third), Noah Askew (16:48, placing fourth), Grant Fleenor (17:38, placing sixth), and Braden Yarmer (17:51, placing seventh).
DSST Cedar prevented TCA from capturing each of the top six spots and finished as the second-place team, thanks to Emmanuel Dean (16:54, placing fifth) and Kyle Thompson (18:08, placing eighth) both finishing in the top 10.
Englewood’s Jack McGirl (18:18, placing ninth) and STEM’s Cole Getting (18:20, placing 10th) closed out the top 10 individuals. SkyView Academy (98 points), STEM (114 points) and Kent Denver (127 points) rounded out the top-five schools.
GRAND JUNCTION – Battle Mountain’s Will Brunner won a hard-fought race at the Boys 4A Region 1 Cross Country Championship at Lincoln Park Golf Club on Thursday, as he narrowly edged out Mullen’s Jacob Sushinsky (14:46 to 14:47) down the stretch. Brunner’s Battle Mountain teammate, Porter Middaugh (15:08), rounded out the top three individuals and helped the Huskies to a third-place team finish.
Summit High School and Eagle Valley High each had three racers place in the top 10. Summit’s Joshua Shriver (15:25, placing fourth), Jay McDonald (15:44, placing sixth), and Will Bentley (16:19, placing 10th) each earned top-10 placements, as Summit finished in second among the teams with 72 points. Eagle Valley’s Cooper Filmore (15:32, placing fifth), Armando Fuentes (15:56, placing seventh) and Tyler Blair (15:57, placing eighth) also finished among the 10 fastest racers, and powered Eagle Valley to a first-place team finish with 47 points.
Samuel Garmany, from Central Grand Junction High School, finished ninth among the individuals (16:14). Unfortunately, though, that wasn’t enough for the Warriors to finish in the top five, as Grand Junction (108 points) and Conifer (116 points) nabbed the fourth and fifth spots.
PARKER – The Boys 4A Region 2 Cross Country Championship at Salisbury Equestrian Park in Parker on Thursday served as a showcase for Coronado High School, who tallied 25 points and finished in first place.
Coronado had five top-10 finishers – Oliver Horton (16:15, placing second), Boston Potts, (16:40, placing third), Bridger Steiner-Smith (16:53, placing fourth), Parker Davidson (17:07, placing seventh) and Eisen Dacus (17:07, placing ninth).
Palmer Ridge (79 points) also had a terrific day, as they boasted three top-10 finishers, including individual champion Lucas Bossinger (16:03), sixth-place finisher Fox Everton (16:58) and eighth-place finisher Hayden Nici-Antesberger (17:07), yet still, finished third. They finished behind Lewis-Palmer (77 points), despite Lewis Palmer having only one top-10 individual finisher – Sheppard Collier (17:08).
Littleton finished fourth (115 points) and was the only other school with a top-10 finisher, thanks to Henrik Chojnacki (16:55). Lutheran finished fifth with 129 points.
ARVADA – Niwot was one-point shy of perfection in the 4A Region 3 Cross Country Championships at the North Area Athletic Complex Thursday, finishing with 16 points.
Rocco Culpepper captured the individual title for Niwot in 16:15, and he was followed by teammate Cole Mazurana in 16:21.
Northfield finished second with 53 points, while Golden was third with 99. Green Mountain finished fourth with 160 points and Denver North rounded out the top five at 163 points.
GREELEY – Severance’s Caden Schweer captured the individual title at the 4A Region 4 Cross Country Championships at Montford Park Thursday, finishing seven seconds ahead of Thompson Valley’s runner-up Guthrie Manzella. Schweer crossed in 16:01.80, while Manzella finished in 16:08.90.
Mead’s Ben Mayer took third in 16:11.70 and was followed by a pair of Thompson Valley teammates, as Trent Gabrielson was fourth in 16:21.80 and Jacob Crisman was fifth in 16:23.10. In sixth was Longmont’s Miles Miller (16:32.80), seventh was Silver Creek’s Simon Murray (16:44.70) and eighth was Thornton’s Braden Rueter (16:47.00).
Thompson Valley rounded out the top-10 with Ty Bakker taking ninth in 16:51.20 and Isaac Vasquez finishing 10th in 16:54.60).
In placing all five scoring runners in the top 10, Thompson Valley won the team title with 28 points. Mead was second with 71 points, while Longmont (78 points) and Severance (81) were close behind. Silver Creek rounded out the top five, finishing fifth with 128 team points.
PUEBLO – The Boys 4A Region 5 Cross Country Championship at Elmwood Short Nine Golf Course in Pueblo featured an excellent battle between Cheyenne Mountain (30 points, finishing first) and Durango (51 points, finishing second).
Durango had three top-10 finishers with Charlie Dillman (17:05, finishing seventh), Luke Swenk (17:09, finishing eighth) and Miles Snow (17:21, finishing 10th), but Cheyenne Mountain won the day, thanks largely to individual champion Aiden Le Roux (16:04) and their other top-10 finishers – Brogan Collins(16:29, finishing second), Anthony Porter (16:49, finishing fourth) and William Newkirk (16:57).
Rounding out the top five teams was Montrose (107 points, third place), represented among the top 10 individuals by Elijah Echols (16:41, finishing third), Pueblo West (112 points, fourth place), represented among the top 10 by Luke Ware (17:04, finishing sixth), and Widefield (127 points, fifth place).
Pueblo South’s Andres Cura also finished among the top 10 individuals, placing ninth (17:11).
AURORA (by Jessica Maestas) – Chaparrals’ Brennan Draper secured the win at the 5A Region 1 Cross Country Championships at Arapahoe County Fairgrounds Thursday morning with a final time of 15:42. Almost finishing with the two-fastest race times of the day, Chaparral’s Tanner Brown crossed the finish line in a time of 16:10, behind Cherry Creek’s Daniel Hruska, who took second place with a final time of 15:44, causing Brown to come in third.
Grandview claimed the team title with a total of 59 points, beating Regis Jesuit by four points (63). With both school’s top racers finishing back-to-back, Regis Jesuit junior Braeden Focht beat Grandview senior Owen Zitek by seven seconds. The final times being 16:11 for Focht and 16:19 for Zitek to hold on to fourth and fifth place. Regis junior Caleb Aex placed 10th with a time of 16:45, holding down the podium for his team.
Grandview’s Lucas Blevins held onto the sixth spot in the individual race, coming in seconds behind Zitek with an end time of 16:27, to be followed by Cherry Creek racer Alexander Gilbert who finished seventh in 16:32. With help from ninth-place winner Isaac Scott ending in 16:44, Cherry Creek earned a third-place finish with a team score of 70.
With one racer in the top 10, Cherokee Trail sophomore Dylan Smith came in with a final score of 16:35, placing first on his team and eighth overall. Cherokee Trail finished fourth in the race with 72, followed by Chaparral in fifth with 88 points.
GRAND JUNCTION – Benjamin Anderson captured the individual title to lead Mountain Vista to the team title at the 5A Region 2 Cross Country Championships at Lincoln Park Golf Course Thursday.
Anderson was one of four Golden Eagles to finish in the top 10, as he was first across the finish line in 14:56.79. ThunderRidge, which had three top-10 finishers, sandwiched a pair of teammates around a third-place finish from Mountain Vista’s William Wachter (15:38.64), as ThunderRidge’s Owen Casselman took second in 15:21.03 and teammate Ben Lee was fourth in 15:39.14. Heritage’s Liam England crossed fifth with a time of 15:40.78, while Arapahoe’s Jackson Turner took sixth in 15:42.09.
Mountain Vista’s third runner across the line was Benjamin Adams, who finished in 15:42.73 to take seventh. Heritage’s Benjamin Wolff was close behind, finishing eighth in 15:44.60.
ThunderRidge and Mountain Vista rounded out the top 10 with ThunderRidge’s Braydon Leist finishing ninth in 15:52.78 and Mountain Vista’s McKay Dunn taking 19th in 15:53.35.
Mountain Vista’s 34 team points were good for first, while ThunderRidge took second with 43 points. Heritage checked in third with 61 points, while Arapahoe (118 points) and Denver South (122) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
LOVELAND – Centaurus’ Jacob Schwarting won the individual title at the 5A Region 4 Cross Country Championships on Thursday, while Fort Collins claimed the team title at Loveland High School.
Schwarting beat host-school Loveland’s Colin Olson by six seconds to claim first, as Schwarting crossed in 16:03 and Olson finished in 16:09. Fossil Ridge’s Carter Brazelton was third in 16:34, finishing before a trio of runners within six seconds, as Tyson Bhalla crossed fourth in 16:42, Fort Collins’ Cadel Ruthven in fifth (16:46) and Horizon’s Ethan Adams in sixth (16:48).
Fort Collins was the first school with two finishers, as Grant Koontz edged Horizon’s Caden Weadon, Fossil Ridge’s Kevn Rodgers and Fort Collins’ Joseph Rich out of seventh. Koontz finished just ahead of Weadon as the two both clocked in at 16:56, with Rodgers one second behind (16:57) and Rich one second behind that (16:58). Centaurus’ Jordan Schatz followed the pack in, finishing 11th in 17-minutes flat.
Fort Collins won the team title with 49 points, while Fossil Ridge was second, collecting 57 points. Centaurus took third with 88 points and was followed by Rocky Mountain (112) and Loveland (126).
COLORADO SPRINGS – Valor Christian’s Dane Eike won the individual title at the 5A Region 5 Cross Country Championships at Monument Valley Park Thursday, but the next three finishers came from Rock Canyon, giving the Jaguars the team title with 41 points.
Eike completed the course in 15:30.1, while Rock Canyon’s Owen Whitney turned in a time of 15:36, followed by teammates Brady Hill (15:53.80) and Jackson West (16:07.20). Castle View’s Christian Alley claimed fifth with a time of 16:09.50.
Air Academy took sixth and seventh, with Nate Lumaye (16:18.60) and Carson Smith (16:20.80) the next two runners across the line, beating out Valor Christian’s Judah Crooks, which finished eighth with a time of 16:23.30. Douglas County’s Samuel Boedecker finished in 16:25.20 to take ninth and Rock Canyon’s Jack D’Souza rounded out the top-10 in 16:27.40.
Valor Christian finished second among the teams with 64 points, while Castle View took third with 86 points, Douglas County fourth (106) and Air Academy fifth (120).
