COLORADO SPRINGS — Complete results from the 2015 state cross country meets, held at the Norris-Penrose Event Center.
Use the menu below for the race of your choosing.
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COLORADO SPRINGS — Paul Roberts, though it may seem that way when considering all he’s accomplished, isn’t superhuman.
But, when it comes to the Class 2A state cross country meet the past four seasons, Roberts is perfect. He’s a perfect 4-for-4 in winning state individually and, on top of that, he’s 4-for-4 in helping Lyons to team crowns.
In that measure, the senior might not be superhuman, but his results are spectacular. So spectacular that, throughout Colorado history, no male runner before him had ever won four individual state championships in cross country. Not Adam Goucher, who won the Foot Locker National High School Cross Country Championship in 1993 before a storied collegiate and pro career. Not Bret Schoolmeester. Not Kevin Williams. Not Evan Appel.
Also, although 2A is the smallest classification in cross country, consider the fact that Roberts did have either the first or second fastest time for any classification at the state meet during each of his four seasons.
On Saturday at the Norris Penrose Event Center, the senior ran a time of 15:33, a 17-second betterment of the 3A champion (Ben Butler of Skyview Academy) and the 4A champion (Tanner Norman of The Classical Academy), who both ran 15:50. The 5A champion, Isaac Green of Monarch, finished in 16:03. At least this season, the best 2A runner was the best runner, period.
For Roberts, four individual crowns seemed in the realm of possibility pretty much from the time he first donned the Lyons singlet, but four team championships just adds to his legacy.
“Honestly I’ve had that goal for awhile,” he said of being a four-time solo champ. “The team thing is even more important to me. It’s been tough every year. I’m a little more excited for the team. The individual is just a cherry on top.”
Roberts has always led the way, but it’s not like he hasn’t had help. After all, cross country is, first and foremost, a team sport. Joel Such, another senior and a teammate of Roberts since sixth grade track, was the runner-up Saturday in 16:33. He was eighth at the state meet as a freshman, third as a sophomore, 21st as a junior, despite battling injuries, and now the runner-up.
“We’ve been together for a really long time,” Roberts said. “He’s a great guy to train with, a great guy to race with, and I wouldn’t want to race for anybody else.”
The final scorer for Lyons on Saturday was Landon Milbrath, a sophomore who came through with a 14th place showing.
Even though only three runners score in Class 2A, compared to five in the bigger divisions, Paul’s dad Mark, the Lyons coach, was equally proud of their fourth finisher, senior Cameron Cross (22nd).
“He was the glue for our next group after Paul and Joel,” the elder Roberts said. “He didn’t score for us, but he was the unsung hero of this group.”
For Lyons, the school had never won state in boys cross country before Roberts and Such showed up. Now, led by Paul, a recent Colorado State-Pueblo commit, they are a dynasty.
“We hope we can continue to build off the culture that has been established by this group,” Mark Roberts said.
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As Lyons has owned 2A for years, in 5A, the elite team has been Mountain Vista. The Golden Eagles spread their wings again Saturday in winning their fourth consecutive state championship. In doing so, they became the first-ever program to win four 5A boys cross country crowns in a row.
In 2014 they became the first to win three in a row, as well, so this season cemented their place in history to an even further extent.
“I have to give credit to the people before us,” senior Paxton Smith, a member of all four titles teams, said. “They really developed the dynasty. It’s something special.”
In Smith’s estimation, this was the best Vista team ever. With an absolutely dominant 50-point total, well ahead of Fort Collins (110), he seems to be right. Smith (fifth place), Alex Fu (eighth), and Ryan Currie (26th) proved to be a special senior class. Throw in junior Joshua Romine (sixth) and sophomores Parker Mackay (11th) and Shayan Zarrin (22nd) and the Golden Eagles proved far too much for anyone to handle in 5A, once again.
The individual race provided more drama as Monarch junior Isaac Green outkicked and outlasted Broomfield senior Jake Mitchem by the slimmest of margins, 16:03 to 16:04. Steven Goldy of Arapahoe was third in 16:07.
For Green, a cross country state title backed the idea that he has become 5A’s best after also winning the 1,600 meters in track last spring as a sophomore. His speed paid off again.
In the second largest classification, a number of individual contenders seemed to have a real chance at winning it all.
Golden’s Alec Hornecker, Montrose’s Ian Meek, Widefield’s Maximilliano Martinez, Thompson Valley’s Jarrett Thollot, and The Classical Academy’s Tanner Norman all toed the line with title hopes.
After a torrid early pace set by Meek, who had at least a couple of seconds on the field through the mile, the large chase pack eventually caught the junior. Then, Norman emerged as the champion with a 15:50, just two seconds in front of Hornecker. Martinez (3rd), Meek (4th), and Thollot (6th) all capped off strong seasons with high finishes.
The team competition, as expected, came down to Durango and Palmer Ridge as they established themselves as the powers this year from the get-go.
The Demons, third place in 2014 and with seven seniors comprising the varsity, beat the defending champion Bears 73-75. It was the team’s seventh state title in boys cross country, but first since 1999. They are now tied with Pueblo Centennial for the third most championships by any school and only trail Fort Collins (8) and Lake County (19).
Benjamin Lachelt (5th), David Moenning (10th), Nicholas Turco (14th), William Chandler (19th), and Jordan Helms (25th) led the way.
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Ben Butler, a senior at Skyview Academy and another highly rated runner nationally, won back-to-back state titles in commanding fashion with a time of 15:50. He also finished fourth as a sophomore and was the 3,200 meter state champion last spring.
Salida senior Taylor Stack (16:16) was the 3A runner-up for the third time in a row. He was seventh as a freshman. No surprises from those two.
As for team standings, Alamosa, for the second straight year, handled runner-up Frontier Academy and everyone else for a seemingly easy state crown. After returning five of their top seven runners from 2014, the Maroons tallied 55 points and ran away from Frontier (118).
Isaiah DeLaCerda (3rd), Caleb Palmer (6th), Miguel Mateo Baltazar (10th), Caleb Berlinger (14th), and Oscar Martinez (22nd) were the five scorers this year. Perhaps a budding dynasty, Alamosa will return their entire varsity in 2016.
The 73rd annual boys and 38th annual girls state cross country meets are October 31. Full schedule information is below.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 31
Site: Norris-Penrose Event Center, Colorado Springs
Host: CHSAA, Cheyenne Mountain HS, Runner’s Roost
Meet Director: Jenn Roberts-Uhlig, Assistant Commissioner, CHSAA
Site Director: Darryl Abeyta, activities director, Primero (CHSAA); Kris Roberts, athletic director, Cheyenne Mountain; Stan Lambros, coach, Cheyenne Mountain; Gary Staines, special events, Runner’s Roost
Time Schedule:
| Time | Race |
| 8:20 a.m. | Unified race |
| 9:20 a.m. | 2A girls |
| 10 a.m. | 3A boys |
| 10:30 a.m. | 4A boys |
| 11 a.m. | 5A girls |
| 11:30 a.m. | 2A boys |
| 12 p.m. | 3A girls |
| 12:30 p.m. | 4A girls |
| 1 p.m. | 5A boys |
A complete list of individual qualifiers for Saturday’s state cross country meet.
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Ben Butler, a senior at SkyView Academy who was the individual champion at last season’s Class 3A cross country state meet, competed at the World Mountain Running Championships in Wales on Saturday.
Butler — who also won the 3,200-meter race at the 3A state track meet, and was second in the 1,600 — was one of seven junior runners selected by the Mountain Ultra Trail Executive Committee of USA Track and Field. He finished ninth in the junior men’s race Saturday in a field of more than 100.
“I began looking for different ways to represent the United States and decided to try for the Junior Mountain Running Team, but wasn’t sure I had a real chance,” Butler said in a release from the school.
Butler was notified late at night on July 25 that he would be part of the Junior US Mountain Running team. To be eligible, male athletes aged 16-19 must race a 5K road or cross country time in under 16:45. Butler ran 16:18.2 in winning 3A cross country last season.
“After that call,” Butler said, “I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to be able to represent the U.S. in this national race. This opportunity is a dream coming true for me.”
The course at the World Mountain Running Championships in Wales was a two-lap up-and-downhill race that gains 800 feet of elevation per lap. It is an 8.9 km course.
“I’ve been putting in extra training time running hills and increasing my mileage to about 70 miles a week in order to prepare,” Butler said. “The opportunity to put on the Team USA jersey is unbelievable.”
Said Jenn Burgess, the secondary principal at SkyView Academy: “We are so proud of Ben Butler and his notable accomplishments in the classroom as well as his remarkable athletic achievements. He embodies SkyView Academy’s vision for each one of its students, and is a young man known for the content of his excellent character and his strong leadership.”
LITTLETON — Results from the 2015 Liberty Bell Cross Country Invitational are below. Sort by team or individual results.
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LITTLETON — Not so long ago, the Salida girls cross country team finished an emotionally charged state meet as the Class 3A runner-up.
While a second place showing was extremely solid, in some ways the result was a bitter one after a uniform incident — non-identical singlets — resulted in only five girls, not seven, toeing the line. The defending champion Spartans were inched out for the state crown in 2014 by Alamosa, 91-95.
“When something like that happens, it’s just tough,” Salida coach Ken Wilcox said. “Fortunately for a lot of our girls, they were back for another year. We have an opportunity to take something that wasn’t so positive and make it a real positive. I’ve always thought great challenges present great opportunities.”
On Friday afternoon at DeKoevend Park in Littleton, site of the traditionally competitive Arapahoe Warrior Invite, Salida took advantage of such an opportunity. Senior Taylor Stack won the boys race, as he and his teammates placed fourth in a 30-team field, and the Salida girls finished as runner-up to 5A favorites Cherry Creek.
In an invite comprised of almost all 4A and 5A schools, the Spartans made a statement in their season debut.
“One of the beautiful things about cross country is you get the opportunity to run against some of the bigger dogs,” Wilcox said. “We are a school of about 300 and obviously there’s a lot of schools here that are much bigger than that. It’s just fun for us. It’s low pressure.”
On a true cross country course with a water crossing and a few gently rolling hills, Stack ran away from big-school stars — Alec Hornecker of Golden, Steven Goldy of Arapahoe, and Luc Hagen of Air Academy — in winning with a time of 16 minutes, 13 seconds. Hornecker was next in 16:20, then Goldy (16:25) and Hagen (16:49).
It was an impressive start to an eye-opening afternoon for the Spartans as all six of Stack’s teammates broke 19 minutes. A year ago on the same course, only three managed sub-19 performances for the eventual sixth place team in 3A.
“In the time we’ve been coming to Arapahoe, I have to feel that’s easily the highest our guys have placed without a doubt,” Wilcox said excitedly.
Seth Minor, Russell Orris, Kaden Sites, and Morgan Fitzgerald filled out the scoring five for a Salida team that had 215 points, fourth place behind only 5A schools Cherry Creek (132), Rock Canyon (128), and Arapahoe (64), the champions at their home course. The Spartan boys are ranked No. 6 in 3A by Milesplit.
Then, Taryn Ceglowski (6th place), Phoebe Powell, Bari Beasley, Sydney Fesenmeyer, and Olivia Lowe racked up 152 points in beating 5A No. 8 Pine Creek (157) and 4A No. 6 Palmer Ridge (171).
The girls, ranked No. 1 in 3A, were only defeated by Creek (64). The Bruins rode first- and third-place finishes by Devon Peterson and Lillian Markusch to a crown.
In a meet with most big schools racing their full lineups, but some, notably Mountain Vista boys and girls and Palmer Ridge boys, holding out top runners, Salida seized an opportunity to display the strength of not only their program, but small school distance running overall.
“It’s always fun to come to a bigger meet like this and be one of the only 3A schools,” Stack said.
“It’s always our goal to kind of mix things up a little bit and make some noise for smaller schools.”
“I think as a small school sometimes it’s easy to have small dreams,” Wilcox added. “We don’t want to have small dreams. We want to shoot a little higher than that.”
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Mountain Vista boys cross country team has had tremendous varsity lineups in recent years. In fact, last fall they became the first program to claim three consecutive Class 5A state championships.
And yet, even though a four-peat is well within the realm of possibility, “Vista Nation,” as they like to refer to themselves as, is just as proud of the entire program’s success.
The depth a team possesses, beyond just the top-seven runners who earn varsity spots, is an indication of the prosperity of a program.
The Golden Eagles had 41 runners break 20 minutes in cross country last fall, a remarkable number, especially when considering Colorado is at high altitude. They had 16 boys go sub-17. They had the top five finishers at the Continental League championships in the junior varsity division. They had 13 of the top 16 finishers in the open division, a race featuring all competitors who aren’t in the top-14 on their team.
In 2013, 37 boys broke 20 minutes. In 2012, 30 broke 20 minutes. So yes, Vista Nation doesn’t just produce top-end talent, the kids who fight for individual state medals and scholarships, but they also have a recent history of boasting far and away the best depth in the Centennial State.
In a program with so many good runners, competition fuels invitational championships, league championships, regional crowns, and state titles.
Co-head coaches Jonathan Dalby and Eric Selle have instilled a culture that not only racks up victories for the boys varsity, but also a sense of purpose for every runner.
“One of the things we do is we have a goal-setting meeting,” Dalby said. “One of their goals every year is to be able to win all six races, boys and girls open, boys and girls JV, and boys and girls varsity at the league championships. I think by giving every kid on the team a purpose, they feel like they contribute. The kids have bought into it a little more each year.”
On top of that, Vista Nation has camaraderie.
“We do a lot of team social stuff,” Dalby added. “At least once a week we’re doing a team pancake breakfast or a camping trip or something like that. It’s nice because they really want to be out there and be around each other.”
The school in Highlands Ranch will once again be favored to win the 5A crown. Interestingly enough, likely their most potent challenger will be Fort Collins, the team who was slightly favored going into the state meet a season ago, but who finished second.
The Lambkins were also the runner-up in 2013. They won it all in both 2011 and 2010, while Vista placed second and third, respectively.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” said Paxton Smith, an individual title contender expected to lead the Golden Eagles. “The group of guys we have are beyond talented. I think this will be the best team that Mountain Vista boys cross country has ever had. Obviously we want to win 5A again, win the four-peat. I think a top-10 team in the nation is a great possibility, too.”
Mountain Vista won’t be the only ones chasing history as Lyons’ Paul Roberts will be looking to claim his fourth-straight individual title in 2A. His team also has a crack at a fourth-consecutive crown.
On the girls side, Fort Collins’ Lauren Gregory, a junior, is after her third consecutive championship in 5A. Air Academy’s Katie Rainsberger, after winning the distance triple crown in track with 4A titles in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200-meter runs, will be looking to cap her cross country career with a second championship.
Roberts, Gregory, and Rainsberger are not only three of the premier distance runners in state history, but also rank among the nation’s best.
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2014 individual champions:
Defending team champions:
Returning All-State athletes:
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2014 individual champions:
Defending team champions:
Returning All-State athletes:
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Custer County cross country will have a new look this fall thanks to a scholarship from Brooks Booster Club.
The Bobcats are one of 25 teams in the nation to win the scholarship, which will provide the team with $14,000 in Brooks running gear. Included are 30 uniforms, warmups, trainers and spikes, and some money for the program.
“To be honest,” said Custer County coach Jack Swartz, “all I did was apply. It was pretty straight forward.”
Brooks started the program to help teams “so that more young runners can sign up, go to meets, and compete in the sport we love most.”
Last season, Custer County’s Corey Lewenkamp placed second in the Class 2A boys state race, and Michael Franta was 37th. Both have since graduated.
Custer County’s girls return seniors Kayli Short and Katlyn Freeburg, who both participated at state last season. Short was 56th, and Freeburg was 71st.
The course redesign ahead of this fall’s state cross country meets was finalized on Wednesday during a site visit to the Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
A group consisting of CHSAA officials, state rules interpreters and site directors visited the course on Wednesday, their third such trip during this redesign process. While there, they addressed a number of concerns heard from a vocal cross country community, including the start of the race, the challenging Big Willis Hill, and the creek crossing.
The course still “needs to be measured out,” according to CHSAA assistant commissioner Jenn Roberts-Uhlig. As such, specific changes won’t be released until a later date — but a map will be published ahead of the pre-state meet at Norris-Penrose on Aug. 28.
“We’ve addressed most of the coaches concerns of the previous course,” said Jim Gjerde, assistant state rules interpreter for cross country.
As part of the redesign process, a group of seven well-respected, championship-level coaches gave their input.
“We certainly want to thank the (cross country) committee, the group of coaches, the site directors, and rules interpreters for all their work on it. It’s been about a year-long process,” Roberts-Uhlig said. “I think we’ve made some great changes. I really do.
“I think we’ve got a course that’s going to work well for us in the next few years. It will benefit kids, coaches and spectators — the spectator view got significantly better.”
The course will also feature other new additions, such as timing clocks at the one- and two-mile markers.
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