Niwot captures regional cross country titles

There's not much country to be found in the grassy expanses of Denver's historic Washington Park, but, according to Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen, that's what made the 2020 Class 4A Region 3 cross country championships on Oct. 8 a "perfect" tune-up race for the Cougars as they prepare to defend their state titles next weekend.

"Grass is slow, which is why I'm glad we were here," he said after his teams swept both the individual and team titles at the Oct. 8th regional. "We wanted them to hurt because we go up a thousand feet next week, and it's a hard course. So the course here ran a little slower, and it sucked, but that's what we wanted."

The unseasonable heat and smoke-tinged air also made for less than ideal conditions, but that didn't seem to faze either of Niwot's teams as they cruised to easy victories in both races, with six of the ten fastest times in each.

On the boys side, the six Cougars kept pace in the lead pack, with junior Zane Bergen and senior Grayden Rauba up front doing battle with Charlie Welch of George Washington and friendly rival James Overberg of Centaurus, who narrowly beat Bergen in the Fairview Invitational on Sept. 12. The group ran a tight formation until just after the midway point when Welch broke away in the lead. But Bergen and Rauba resisted the temptation to chase, and were duly rewarded for their patience.

"I just kept waiting," Bergen said of his strategy heading into the final stretch. "I knew Charlie was going to go kind of early on, so I knew I had to keep him in range for my kick, and that's what I did."

Bergen and Rauba crossed the finish line just after the 16-minute mark to finish 1-2, with their teammates Curtis Volf (16.17), Joey Hendershot (16:19), Carlos Kipkorir (16.41), and Joaquin Herrera (16:45) close behind. Niwot ended with just 20 points on the day, and placed four runners in the first wave at state. Welch finished third (16:09), and Overberg (16:20) was seventh.

"It actually went better than I thought, mainly because a few other kids didn't run as well from other teams," Christensen said of the boys' title-winning performance. "We made James [Overberg] do all of the work, and I feel bad, but whenever you have won more battles, that's kind of what happens. I'm sure he'll be out for vengeance next week."

The girls took the course 90 minutes later, and, once again, the Niwot runners crowded into the lead pack. As usual, they were paced by freshman standout Mia Prok, who opened up an early gap that only grew as the race went on. She would eventually win the race with a time of 18:13 to capture first place and her first regional title. But a little closer on her heels this time was Niwot senior Lucca Fulkerson, who crossed the line just 14 seconds behind the freshman to take second overall.

"I was just racing for the team, and using [Prok] to push me to do better," Fulkerson said afterwards of her performance on the deceptively challenging course. "A lot of it is just digging deep and trusting the training. This is one of the really mentally challenging courses-there are a lot of courses that are super physically challenging, but this one is just hard because there are so many long straightaways."

As with the boys, the rest of the Niwot girls finished shortly thereafter to clinch the team title. Sophomore Maddie Schults (18:58) was third overall, followed by sophomore Lexi Bullen in sixth (19:42), senior Taylor James in eighth (19:57), and freshman Sarah Perkins in ninth (20:00).

With the wins, the Niwot teams also clinched a berth to the Class 4A state championships in Colorado Springs, where the boys will be vying for a second straight team title and girls will be going for their third. Niwot runners have also won the individual titles for the past two years. After the regional wins, both Christensen and his runners think the Cougars are well positioned to defend, and are optimistic heading into the final weekend. Fulkerson and Bergen are also looking forward to being back on more familiar terrain at Norris Penrose.

"With the grass, with every step you take, you're losing that spring back that you usually get on dirt or concrete, so you're not getting as much energy back, and the end of the race is harder," Bergen said. "But we've been training to hit stuff like this, and it paid off and showed we're ready for state."

But the Cougars didn't get where they are today by taking the competition lightly, Christensen cautioned. Among the boys' top competition at state are Cheyenne Mountain and their perennial rival Centaurus. The girls will be competing for the top spot on the podium with Battle Mountain, their main rival the past two seasons and another team loaded with exceptional talent. Individually, another standout freshman, Bethany Michalak of Air Academy, has been turning in performances like Prok's, and the Class 4A state championship will be the opening battle in what is likely to be a years-long rivalry. But Christensen said they aren't overlooking the two "tough and talented" seniors in the mix, Fulkerson and Eagle County's Samantha Blair, 2019's runner-up.

"The Battle Mountain girls are going to score 65 to 75 points, and that's really low at a state meet," Christensen said. "I don't want to discredit anyone else. There's other people who are super talented too."

(See more photos here: https://www.lhvc.com/photos/10_08_2020)