3A Girls Cross Country: The Classical Academy, Eaton’s Reuter Add to Title Collections

COLORADO SPRINGS – Class 3A competitors won’t be sad to see them go.

As a result of winning so many recent cross country championships, seven of the past eight for girls and four of the past five for boys, the Titans will be returning to 4A.

On Saturday, at the Norris Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs, the dynasty lived on as TCA swept the 3A team championships.

“I’m just grateful for the kids and all their hard work,” coach Matt Norton said. “I’m just happy for them to see their faces today and the happiness that they’re feeling for the accomplishment. That means a lot. Every season is a challenge. Just to see their happiness is really gratifying.”

For Titan supporters, it was also gratifying to see all five scorers finish in the top 11 places, leading to a dominant point total of 24. They were 61 points ahead of runner-up Manitou Springs.

“We thought possibly, if things went well, we could get some girls in the Top 10,” Norton said. “We tried to pack up in the top 15. We trusted our strength coming in.”

It certainly paid off as The Classical Academy’s Vivian Jack (17:58) was the individual runner-up to Eaton phenom Delaney Reuter (17:41). TCA teammate Ellie Askew was third (18:39), and fellow Titans Joy Ahnfeldt (seventh), Jana Yuschalk (10th), and Aly Yeadon (11th) rounded out the scoring lineup.

Norton felt like the training his runners did throughout the summer and fall prepared them well for the state meet.

“We have a loop right by our campus that the kids feel is really reminiscent of Little Willis (hill at the state course), so we use it a lot,” Norton said. “It’s a challenging course, so the Springs schools have an advantage at this altitude and there’s not a flat part in town.”

Jack was third at the state championships last year, while Askew was fourth.

“They’re good buddies,” Norton said. “They run a lot of miles together every day, all year. They enjoy each other. They push each other, they encourage each other, and they enjoy being teammates.”

Ahnfeldt, who earned 10th place at state as a freshman in 2023, missed last year’s championships with an injury.

And so, in their hometown, The Classical Academy won its 17th girls cross country state championship, which is a Colorado record.

Former coach Alan Versaw created a powerhouse at a school that was founded in 1997. Norton has carried on the winning tradition as the head coach the past four seasons.

“Everyone in Colorado knows Coach Versaw and what he’s meant to cross country in this state,” Norton said. “Our friendship goes back a long time, and he was really gracious to carve out a spot for me when we moved down here for family reasons. I’ve come to know, in these seven years (first three as an assistant), that the TCA community as a whole entity is part of the reason why the kids have success here.

“They get a lot of support from their teachers and administrators and staff. We have a great little elementary program that gets kids started in running. We have a great junior high program that gets them go the next step. Most of these kids have been together at TCA since kindergarten, so they’re really tight-knit.”

The camaraderie is one reason for their immense success. Another is coaching. After Versaw retired, The Classical Academy asked another legendary coach in Norton to take the reins.

The former Thompson Valley head man won four 4A girls cross country titles for the school in Loveland, before moving to Colorado Springs. He’s now earned 10 state championships in the sport as a head coach (four on the boys side).

“As you get older, you get a little better at enjoying the moment and appreciate a little more what the kids go through to be here,” Norton said. “It’s just really gratifying.”

Someone else who appreciated the moment Saturday was individual state champion Delaney Reuter, who is ranked in the Top 25 runners in America.

From the start, she set a hot pace that not even The Classical Academy girls could match. The Eaton junior led the race by 15 seconds at the one-mile marker, then by 22 seconds through two miles.

In the end her winning time of 17:41 wasn’t as fast as last year’s 17:26, when her margin of victory was 55 seconds, but The Classical Academy head coach was still wildly impressed.

“Delaney was as just so good today,” Norton said. “We thought maybe if Viv could keep her in sights, maybe she could put pressure on her. Delaney’s in another stratosphere.”

Said Reuter: “People were saying I had a big lead, but obviously Vivian and The Classical Academy, they’re such a great team. They have strong runners. They’re familiar with this area, with this course. I couldn’t take them for granted.”

The Eaton star has set numerous course records this season and won all but one race, when she was second to 5A’s Emry Schwalm with a blistering time of 16:43 at the Liberty Bell Invitational. The two-time cross country champion set the tone from the beginning in the 3A final.

“It was kind of similar to how I had run races in the past,” Reuter said. “Knowing that first mile was pretty quick, pretty downhill, I really attacked that. That second mile is so tough, I kind of pushed through and had to be strong through that. Then just keep going. It’s such a tough course.”

She overcame the challenge of facing the hills, despite being from a town with very few of them.

“It’s actually really flat,” she said. “There’s slight hills on the Great Western trail, so on the weekends when I do my long runs I run a hill. It’s not quite like this.”

Nonetheless, she earned back-to-back state championships with her eyes set on a third her senior year. She’s proud to represent her school.

“At Eaton, we have a pretty strong sports tradition,” Reuter said. “We’ve won a lot of state titles. People support others as they go down to state. It’s awesome to be at a school that cares that much.”