Niwot cross country aims for repeat state titles

Fifth-year Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen is grateful that the 2020 high school cross country season is proceeding, even if in a modified form, but he was also quick to acknowledge that, like everything else that it hasn't cancelled or postponed this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the sport more difficult for everyone involved.

"It's everything, whether it's the schedule, trying to plan Covid practices, debating whether or not we're going to cut rosters, or finding races. I would say it's been like six to eight hours on top of my job just to make sure everything lines up. It's a lot of phone calls, a lot of emails, and a lot of planning."

A lot of planning for what will be an eight-week season, instead of the usual 10 weeks, with the maximum number of races a runner is allowed to compete in dropping from 11 to seven. But somehow that has meant even more work behind the scenes for Christensen and his assistants, who have been scrambling to devise a competition calendar that meets overlapping health and safety mandates, while adequately preparing his athletes for the postseason.

"And there's a lot of double standards that don't make sense," he said. "We're in Boulder County, and each county is different, and some people are allowed to do certain things, and Boulder County is not allowed to do them. And that makes it harder, because people don't want to come to Boulder County, because the restrictions are a lot more intense than where they're at. So, it's very stressful on coaches."

As for the Niwot runners, that's one aspect of the 2020 season that hasn't been stressful for Christensen, at least as far as their performance on the course goes. Though the program lost several standout runners to graduation, notably 2019 individual Class 4A state title winners Cruz Culpepper and Samrawit Dishon, an influx of exciting talent has given the coaches confidence that the 2020 team is destined for another championship sweep.

Girls

It should be noted that the Niwot girls will actually be competing for a third straight Class 4A title in 2020, following impressive wins over stacked fields in 2018 and 2019. If anything, this year's team is even more impressive, starting at the top with seniors Lucca Fulkerson and Taylor James, who was recently named the Gatorade Colorado Girls Track Athlete of 2020. The decorated runner is looking forward to assuming a more visible position in the tight-knit group, though maintaining that tight bond could be something of a challenge in the coronavirus era.

"It's understood amongst the athletic community that COVID-19 is the real deal, and we're lucky to even have a season whether it's shortened or not," James said of her upcoming senior season. "People are really looking to me to be strong, especially in this time. And that's great. I'd like to have that position and be able to talk to my teammates and just try to stay organized and try to keep everybody happy."

Fulkerson, who led the Dawson School to 2nd place at the Class 2A cross country championship as a sophomore, was ineligible to compete for Niwot during her junior season due to CHSAA's rules around transfer students, but she was among the top finishers in a slew of national meets, most recently the 2020 Music City Distance Carnival, where she took fourth overall.

The two seniors will be joined by a talented pack of returners from the 2019 championship team, including juniors Amelia Philofsky, Eva Klingbeil, and Eva Lennart, and sophomore Madison Shults. But chasing them will be some highly touted newcomers who could make things complicated for Christensen as the 2020 season progresses.

"There are about 12 girls who could be in our top six," he said. In 2020, state teams will be limited to six runners, instead of the usual seven. "It's going to be fun to watch the kids develop fitness and see who ends up being on that state team... It's really going to depend on health and timing of fitness and mindset."

Among those who could be competing for Niwot at Norris-Penrose in October is freshman Mia Prok, one of the top middle school distance runners, not just in Colorado, but in the U.S. Last December, she competed in the 4000m run at the USATF National Junior Olympics XC Championships, finishing fourth overall. In July, she finished fifth in the National High School Trail Running Championships, after leading the five-miler for most of the way.

"I think she would be one of the top runners, regardless of the high school she attended," Christensen said of the ninth-grader, who also finished third overall in the aforementioned Music City race, beating Fulkerson by three-tenths of a second. "That's her personality, that's her mindset, and that's just her ability. She's a rare athlete, and we're lucky to have her."

Also new to the squad is sophomore Jamieson Legh, who helped lead Lyons to its second straight 2A title last year. According to Christensen, she came to Niwot both for academic reasons and to reunite with her close friends Prok and Lexy Bullen, a member of the Cougars' 2020 state swim and dive squad. Unfortunately, the transfer makes her ineligible to compete in the 2020 cross country season, but she will be available for the spring 2021 track season.

"Those three have been three best friends since they were little with Flatiron Swimming. So, those girls will be a huge impact, and we just have a ton of others."

While talent isn't an issue for the Cougars this season, Christensen is mildly concerned that restrictions on post-race gatherings and other social activities could weaken his team's strong chemistry, which has been the secret weapon in his championship arsenal.

"Teaching that pack riding that's so valuable-it's the bond itself that you create, and so it's hard this year," he said. "You can't do chocolate milk after practice or popsicles or team barbecues and you can't go paddleboarding with 80 of the kids, and you can't go on team altitude trips. So that bonding piece is really different this year.... The people who are first-year athletes, and they're so young, and they've never done high school sports even, so this to them is normal, when it's not. There are so many little things day to day in practice that happen with the community and culture we've built that we can't allow to happen.

"So that's our biggest concern," he continued. "Just making sure that their relationship with running and the team and the sport is really strong going into the state meet."

Luckily, Christensen said, that hasn't been an issue so far in the pre-season, as the girls seem to relish the opportunity to see their friends at all, now that daily classes are taught remotely. Whether it will emerge in September as competition heats up is still an open question, but, for now, the Niwot girls are looking forward to finally testing their deep lineup on the course.

"We're just in a great spot. They're super supportive right now, and have been working together hard and having these conversations... Everyone knows that whoever handles Covid the best is going to be the one that ends up winning."

Boys

Christensen's expectations may be high for the Niwot girls, but a 2020 boys team that he called "better than any team I've ever coached," is plausibly expected to out do three state title teams, including last year's Cougar squad that included two-time champion Culpepper, the current holder of the fourth-fastest overall time in the high school indoor mile (4:00.10). But the 2020 Cougars-led by returning state runners Joaquin Herrera, Grady Rauba, Zane Bergen, Joey Hendershot, and Carlos Kipkorir-are more than up to the task, according to the coach.

"Last year, if we ran just those five they still would have won state," Christensen said. "They'll have their challenges, but they've bonded more over the last three years than any group I've ever coached. It's a team that cares about one another and supports each other more than any team I've ever coached. With Covid, I think this is what the kids get to do for their mental health and social interaction and it's brought them closer together."

Joining them to compete for the sixth spot this season are seniors Curtis Volf and Simon Saia, juniors Ryan Clayborn, Isaac Robinson, and Zach Hoot, and sophomore Frederick Ambrose. So far, there aren't many freshmen in the mix of his top varsity runners, especially compared to the girls, but Christensen isn't surprised about that.

"On the guys side, we always seem to get kids late into the season their freshman year or even their sophomore year, because they don't know what cross country is or are scared to come out, or want to play video games and focus on school," he said. "....[A]nd this year might look different because there are no kids in the building, so there's no urgency on the guys' side-the freshmen probably don't even know that sports are happening right now."

That might help the boys avoid competitive drama, but, as with the girls, Christensen said that the coaches will focus as much on the runners' emotional status as their physical status this season.

"We just have to provide a safe environment for them that they can continue to enjoy, and if we can get to state having positive social interactions and feeling good and having strong mental health, then we will be fine. But that's the biggest challenge, because we can't do everything we normally do that makes this so much fun and that they love and know about it. So, it's going to be really on them to make sure that they're getting that connection piece."

The Niwot varsity cross country teams are set to kick off 2020 on Aug. 28 at the Vista Nation XC 2-Mile Invitational, their traditional season opener. However, not much will be traditional about the season after that, as the team will mostly be at nearby locales through September for weekly triangle meets and invitationals with other schools in the St. Vrain Valley School District.

"The district was very adamant, and every coach and every administrator felt the same way, that we are going to take care of our own, and that the most important thing is to make sure that our community is taken care of," Christensen said.

Niwot will head to Denver for the Class 4A Region 3 finals sometime between October 8-10, with the state meet scheduled for the following Saturday (Oct. 17) at the Norris Penrose Center in Colorado Springs.