3A Boys Cross Country: The Classical Academy’s Matthew Edwards Leads Team to Title

COLORADO SPRINGS – Every year, there are two first-place trophies – team and individual – available in each Colorado high school cross country state championship race.

The Classical Academy’s boys program has decided it wants both each go-around.

For the third year running, The Classical Academy has won both individual and team titles in Class 3A. This year, the Titans won the team gold with a score of 48 and senior Matthew Edwards took home the individual crown with a winning time of 15 minutes, 20.7 seconds.

“It was super special,” Edwards said. “This season has been incredible both as an individual and as a team. So to come out here to a huge crowd and perfect weather was just amazing to do this again for my final year. It’s good stuff. This is exactly what we set out here to do. It started three years ago and we’ve always been a really good team, and now it’s time to pass it on to a new group. It’s just incredible.”

Edwards, who placed third last season, was also the individual winner in 2021 that started the Titans’ current run of classification domination.

Chasing him this year, Manitou Springs senior Cody Kelley, who finished outside the top 10 in 2022, was runner-up with a time of 15:59.0 and pushed the Manitou Springs team into third place. Berthoud’s Tate Both, who placed fifth last season, was third with a time of 16:01.2 and led the Spartans to a runner-up team finish. Jefferson Academy’s Sean Beasley finished fourth with a time of 16:01.5.

“It’s really an honor to be racing with these guys and getting these opportunities,” Beasley said. “It was just awesome and I really got to push myself and see my limit, and I really think I exceeded it. It’s really an honor to be out here and push for my boys. Coming into it, I thought it was going to be super cold so I was really nervous about it but it turned out to be a super fun race.”

Lamar’s Cole Krug rounded out this year’s top five with a time of 16:02.