Cougar cross country dominates Centaurus Invitational

As the cross country runners of Niwot High School ease into the start of their season by testing and percolating their competitive juices, they showed no signs of letting up on their drive to win by dominating the Centaurus Bernie Gay Cross Country Invitational held on Saturday, Sept 6. at Lafayette's Waneka Lake Park.

The Niwot High squads placed first in all four of the varsity and junior varsity 5K races for both girls and boys.

Last Saturday's event was the first appearance by Niwot's varsity team harriers and the second event for Niwot's other runners who competed at the Vista Nation Cross Country 2-Mile Invitational in Highlands Ranch on Aug. 23. At the Vista Nation Invitational, Niwot took top team honors in both the girls and boys freshman/sophomore races and third place in the boys junior/senior race.

Girls Varsity

For the invitational in Lafayette or what many of the race's runners consider the "season opener," the Cougar varsity girls squad placed first with 22 points, Broomfield High School came in second with 93 points, and Centaurus High School placed third with 144 points. Twenty-three high schools participated in the varsity girls race with 172 athletes running.

In cross country meets, the team with the lowest total score wins and points are totaled by the finishes of the first five runners of each team. For each runner, the points they earn for their team correspond to their placement finish. For example, a first place finish by a runner equals one point and the runner coming in second earns two points.

During the girls varsity race, Niwot's dominance was led by the senior pair of Anna Prok and Addison Ritzenhein. Both harriers emerged from the mass start running side by side and effectively finished side by side, with Prok just slightly edging out Ritzenhein for a first place finish by a sliver of 0.1 seconds. Prok's winning time was 18:41.4 and 18:41.5 for Ritzenhein.

Broomfield High School freshman Savannah Fernandez came in third, with a time of 18:42.7.

Helping with Cougar team strength were junior Elise Hagen (3rd, 18:42.8), junior Scarlett Parks (7th, 18:56.6), senior Avalon Beltran (8th, 19:01.0), junior Wendy Cheruiyot (10th, 19:17.0) and junior Elsza Bergen (12th, 19:20.4).

For Parks and Cheruiyot, who did not run track in the spring (due to an injury for Parks and golf participation for Cheriuiyot), the return to the sport felt good. "It was really fun that I'm so happy to be back," said Parks.

Their ability to run while recovering from a recent illness, and with the illness erupting over the entire team, added importance to the performance. "I think it was really good for all of us being sick," commented Parks, with Cheruiyot finishing Parks' thoughts by saying, "And like we worked together as a team."

In looking back at last year's season and the start of this year's season, Cheruiyot also commented, "I feel like we've done so much better. I am proud of all of us."

Boys Varsity

Following the girls varsity race, Cougar pride continued with the boys varsity team earning a first place score of 30 points. Erie High School finished second with 59 points, and Thompson Valley High School took third place with 191 points. Twenty-five high schools competed in the boys varsity race with 198 athletes running.

Niwot senior Hunter Robbie, took first place with a time of 15:40.0, while Erie High School junior Brett Michalski came in second with a time of 15:47.9. Niwot freshman Jude Ritzenhein followed Michalski with a third-place finish and a time of 15:54.3.

Other Niwot runners included junior Quinn Sullivan (6th, 16:04.3), senior Gabriel Marshall (9th, 16:17.1), junior Garrett Sherrard (11th, 16:25.3), freshman Lucas Timm (13th, 16:25.3), sophomore Noah Barrios (22nd, 16:54.7), and sophomore Zachary King (38th, 17:17.1).

As his fellow runners ratcheted down from a group of four to three midway through the race, Robbie said, "I was just trying to match Brett's pace (an Erie High School runner), because yeah, he's a really fast guy... I like him, he's really chill, but I was just trying to be with him and I could notice my teammates were right there with me."

During the final stretch, Robbie's coach yelled, "Try to get him," Robbie said. "So then, I guess like the whole goal from that point was just to get him and win." The effort was successful as Robbie won by 7.9 seconds.

Just like Parks and Cheruiyot on the girls side, Robbie also talked about the eagerness and anticipation he had for his first race of the season. "Over the summer we did a lot of miles," he said of the team's practices and preparations, "I wanted to race so bad, like I woke up this morning like it was Christmas morning. I was so excited, and yeah, so I knew I was ready."

Robbie concluded his takeaway on race preparations by urging faith in the Lord for others. "That's what I've been doing this past couple of years and it's just everything to me. It's the best decision I've ever made."

Girls Junior Varsity

Just as "location, location, location" is the emphasized word in real estate, "freshman, freshman, freshman," repeats as the pounding force behind the girls junior varsity cross country team at Niwot High.

With Niwot's freshman girls finishing in the first five spots of the race, the Cougar junior varsity squad achieved the perfect score of 15 points for a first place finish, followed by Monarch earning 68 points for second place, and Centaurus gaining a third place finish with 77 points. Twelve high schools competed in the race with 172 JV athletes running. The Cougars had a powerhouse showing of 50 girls competing in the event.

For the first eleven finishers of the race, it was all Niwot Cougar jerseys, until Monarch sophomore Amy Roemer broke the streak with a 12th-place finish, but soon more Niwot finishers followed.

The race's top ten finishers, all from Niwot, were freshmen Siona Kelly (1st, 19:05.5), freshman Emily Boda (2nd, 19:06.9), freshman Lulu Valentine (3rd, 19:07.6), freshman Ephie Hagen (4th, 19:07.8), freshman Tereza Koudelka (5th,19:22.3), freshman Charlotte Repsher (6th, 19:33.0), junior Kelly Wilson (7th, 19:50.3), freshman Breckin Lee (8th, 19:59.7), junior Alaan Foster (9th, 20:30.9), and freshman Paige Edwards (10th, 20:42.1).

Boys Junior Varsity

To round out the conclusion of Saturday's invitational, Niwot's junior varsity boys kept the team winning streak going by earning 22 points for the first place finish, followed by Erie High School with 63 points in second place, and the Ponderosa High School in third with 91 points. Nineteen high schools competed in the boys junior varsity race with 228 athletes running.

Poking a hole in Niwot's individual performance race dominance was Monarch High School sophomore Carter Ausmus, who outblasted a win with a first place time of 16:45.9. Niwot freshman Braylon Brown came in second with a time of 16:55.1, while Niwot freshman Nicholas Renault achieved the third place medal with a time of 17:18.1.

Other Niwot runners earning spots in the top ten finishes were junior, Praveen Bopearachchigedon (4th, 17:31.9), senior Nate Thompson (6th, 18:01.0), junior Tai Morris (7th, 18:05.3), sophomore Brooks Lee (9th, 18:10.6) and sophomore, Aiden Smith (10th, 18:24.3).

Next Up for Cougar Cross

The Cougars' next competition is the St. Vrain Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 20 in Lyons. Niwot cross country ends the month with travel to a national competition in Huntsville, Alabama on Sept. 26.