Niwot cross country victorious

The results of last Wednesday's RE-1J District Cross Country Meet may have looked like opening the floodgates, but Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen described the outcome as more of a controlled release.

The Cougars, who had seen their top runners held out of competition in the first weeks of the season, were on full display on their home course and the visual effect was a green wave.

Both the girls and the boys teams easily ran to victory with the girls capturing the top 13 individual places in the event, while the boys crossed the finish line 12 times in the first 13 positions.

Still, for Christensen, the annual district meet is much more than just an opportunity to showcase his team's depth.

"This is one of my favorite weeks of the year," Christensen said about the powerhouse program he has been able to develop at Niwot. "It's more about culture and community than anything else. It's about getting parents involved and trying to be there for the middle school kids because every year we get to run our races right after them. So, it's about being there a little early and making sure they (the middle school runners) have a positive experience because the community and culture piece is where it all starts.

"We try to have a couple of weeks a year where we're really focused on reinforcing the community culture piece and trying to make sure parents know how much we appreciate the time they take for their kids and for the school. And then, it's also one of the only meets we get to go to where everybody on the team gets to run. Everyone gets to go to the line all together and makes it really fun. That's the culture piece."

BOYS XC

From the firing of the start gun, a pack of Cougars rushed out into the lead and never looked back. Sophomores Rocco Culpepper and Hunter Robbie, junior Keegan Geldean and Cole Mazurana, and freshman Quinn Sullivan moved through the first two miles of the 5000-meter race like a team of one. It was the exact strategy Christensen scripted for this team.

"The instructions were that we had to have five runners together through two miles. Even if you're feeling good, we can only go as fast as our fifth runner. Then in that last mile, I told them I'd let them know if we needed to press the pace if a kid from another team was catching them. The kid from Lyons (senior Sage Wynja) started moving up, so we went down to four, dropping Quinn."

But for the four leaders, it was still a team effort to get to the finish and all four crossed the line within one half second of each other. Robbie wound up taking first followed by Culpepper, Geldean and Mazurana. Quinn held on to his fifth-place position, three seconds behind the pack. Christensen knew Culpepper and Mazurana had plenty left in their tanks at the end of the race but held back a bit for the good of their teammates.

"It's one of the cool things that we believe in in our culture," he said, "that if our upperclassmen can show an underclassman (1) how to run a race, and (2) that they're capable of winning it, that just speeds up the process for us. So rather than taking another year for Hunter to contribute in our top five or top seven, now Hunter believes he belongs and can win. A lot of that credit goes to the three teammates that kind of pushed him ahead right at the finish line."

After seeing 20 runners finish in the top 23 spots, it might not appear that the Cougars could look much more dominant. Don't bet on it.

"The next two meets, the gloves come off," Christensen said about the 23rd Annual St. Vrain Cross Country Invitational at Lyons on Saturday, Sept. 16, and Boulder High's Pat Patten Invitational the following Saturday. "There will be no reins being held back on anyone. We want to see where our team is in comparison with ourselves and where the kids stack up against others. The next two meets are big. We want to go out and win."

GIRLS XC

The lack of competitive action in the early going of the season showed no signs of slowing down the Cougars' top runners from a year ago. Sophomore Addison Ritzenhein and senior Mia Prok crossed the finish line in a virtual tie with Ritzenhein grabbing the gold by two tenths of a second. Senior Olivia Alessandrini completed the dynamic trio's amazing showing, less than three seconds behind and a distant 36 seconds ahead of fourth-place teammate Sarah Perkins.

A year ago, Ritzenhein and Prok finished second and third, respectively, in the 4A State Championship meet, helping lead the Cougars to their fifth consecutive 4A state title. Alessandrini crossed the finish line at state in 14th place. With 16 runners finishing last week's district meet in the top 20, the Cougars appear to be poised to once again pounce on any and all comers in 4A.

Christensen was particularly pleased with the fourth-place finish by Perkins. The senior had her struggles physically and mentally a year ago, but has returned to the program ready to recapture the form that led her to a ninth-place finish at state in 2021 in her sophomore season.

"Perkins was a huge surprise. Last year was really tough on her," Christensen recalled. "She took a lot of time away to work on herself and it's really cool to see. It's really what you want to see in kids and really in human beings in general. Step back away from things that really aren't going well and work on yourself and grow. And then, when you're ready to be successful, engage. She keeps plugging right back in and it's just fun to see someone overcome adversity . . . one small step at a time."

Other top finishers for the Cougars were seniors Kendall Madine (8) and Viola Alessandrini (9), and freshmen Elise Hagen (5), Scarlett Parks (7) and Elsza Bergen (10). The Cougars wound up with five freshmen in the top 20 finishers. Eloise Boyd (13) and Alaan Foster (20) joined the other freshmen on the list.

"I think only one of the freshmen would say she ran her best. I think the others were just a little nervous and just trying to figure it all out. They've got a lot left in them," Christensen offered, also highlighting his upperclassmen for their poise and experience. "It's fun. It's just cool to be a part of what they're all doing."