Prok leads Niwot girls to third straight cross country title

Niwot head cross country coach Kelly Christensen knew that the lead pack in the 2020 girls Class 4A championship race would be fast, but both he and his runners were caught off-guard by the pace freshman Bethany Michalak of Air Academy set right from the start. That led to some tense moments for Christensen as he watched from the sidelines, adding and re-adding the potential final scores.

"Our strategy all season was a lot different in workouts and races because we knew, or we were putting a lot of money on the table, that Bethany was going to go out and string out the race, and there wasn't going to be a whole lot of pack running, and you're going to have to learn to fight on your own, and that exactly happened," he said. "So, I got really nervous there for a little bit...Not knowing where anyone but Niwot and Battle Mountain was, another team could easily have snuck in there and taken it."

Michalak's quick start could have spelled disaster for a team like Niwot, which has relied on pack running to win state championships the past two years. But as they have all season, the Cougars "trusted their training," and Christensen knew he could relax when he saw "more green jerseys in front of yellow" among the lead group. Michalak went on to win the race, with a time of 17 minutes 59 seconds, but Prok and her Niwot teammates were close behind and captured a third consecutive Class 4A team title with room to spare.

"They responded fast enough, and they didn't panic, and it was good," Christensen said of his team's performance. "The 4A depth is tough, and it was a tough year to crack the top 15-20. It's just a different year, and for them to pull it off is just special."

Four of Niwot's six runners finished in the top 20, including sophomore Madison Shults (19:11) who finished ninth overall, and was the only other Cougar to finish in the top 10. Behind her were seniors Lucca Fulkerson (19:19) in 13th and Taylor James (19:45) in 20th, sophomore Lex Bullen (19:59) in 25th and freshman Sarah Perkins (20:19) in 35th. The Cougars ended with 55 points in the team standings, nearly 40 points ahead of runner-up Battle Mountain (93).

"It was definitely super difficult, and we took off super fast, but I think it was pretty good," Prok said of her team's title-winning effort. "I'm so proud of everyone. We had Maddie in ninth, which is so awesome. Everyone just crushed it. And again, everyone just does it for the team, and I think that's the best part about Niwot, that we're so focused on the team."

For Prok, however, a budding rivalry with Michalak is also likely to be a focus of hers for the next three seasons. Though the Air Academy freshman won the opening salvo, Prok is already looking forward to their next match-up.

"She's super nice and fun to race against," she said. "I think it will be good as we improve together and get to race to gather and have opportunities to compete against each other."

For James, the race was bittersweet, as it likely signaled the end of her cross country career. The highly decorated senior recently accepted an offer to compete in track & field for Stanford, and doesn't see much competitive distance running in her future. But she was happy to leave on a championship note, even if they had to work a little harder than they expected.

"That was our goal as a whole, to get another state championship under our belt, especially with such a weird season and all the stuff that's been going on," she said. "We all went into the race knowing we had to work hard, and to keep an eye on some of the jerseys, and just make sure that people worked for it."

James was also happy with her own performance, after a regular season that didn't go according to plan in more ways than one. Afterwards, Niwot coach Maurice Henriques called it "her best race of the season," an assessment that James confirmed.

"It was a weird season and I struggled a little bit mentally, but I feel like this was where I put it all together, and I was able to just hurt for my teammates one last time," she said. "It was awesome, and I'm pretty proud."

For full results visit Colorado MileSplit. Watch video of the Class 4A finish here (skip to 1:17:00).

See more photos here.