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Colorado XC State Meet 2014 Recap - Brent New - DyeStat

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DyeStat.com   Oct 26th 2014, 5:01pm
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Different outcomes for Rainsberger, Alhamra 

 

By Brent New for DyeStat


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- It was the closest thing to a lock in high school sports. Air Academy junior Katie Rainsberger and Pine Creek senior Zachary Alhamra weren't just expecting to win their respective races at the Colorado high school cross country championships, they were looking to leave the final meet of the season as the fastest runners in the state.


It ended up being an unusual split.


At the end of an unseasonably warm day at Norris-Penrose Event Center, Rainsberger outkicked the shadow cast from former Niwot runner and current Stanford runner Elise Cranny, while Alhamra sat under a plastic white tent, gasping for air after his jaw-dropping season turned to misery with one mile left in his CHSAA cross country career.


Rainsberger went first, and capped off her junior season with a dominant finish in the Class 4A girls' race, crossing the line in 18 minutes and 50 seconds after a sub-six minute mile to end it. A performance that also pried the top time away from Fort Collins' Lauren Gregory, who held it for most of the day.


Then went Alhamra, who lost the lead with a little more than a mile to go during the Class 5A race, and stopped three different times on his way to a time of 18:29, good enough for 75th place on Saturday.


"No one in that mid-pack could believe (Alhamra) was by us," said Heritage runner Richard Weigang, who passed Alhamra in the final 200 meters and finished 58th in 5A. "I think we were all worried about his health. Man, I felt bad for him."


Between the two favorites, Rainsberger, who was passed in the final meters by Cranny two years ago and lost to her by 40 seconds last year, adjusted the best to the unexpected blips on Saturday.


She had her teammates to splash water on her throughout the entirety of her race to try to neutralize the heat. And then had her mom, famous distance-runner Lisa Rainsberger, to call out Gregory's splits to help keep her on pace for the top time.


Rainsberger said it was probably those few tweaks that were the difference between taking the first or second-fastest girls' time of the day.


"Those things helped me mentally out there," said Rainsberger edged Gregory's time (18:55) by five seconds. "I dealt with the heat, got some help with that, and then I just opened up my stride after hearing I was behind Lauren's time with a mile to go. I think, mentally, it was the difference."


Alhamra, meanwhile, never could alter his approach. The heat hit him like a swinging door, a blow he'd never recover from.


Because although the 5A state runner-up from 2013 won his prior races handily this season-- often doing it without using everything in the tank -- and despite the fact he had fastest time of any Colorado high school runner by 17 seconds, Alhamra looked out of sorts before he startlingly collapsed at the finish line.


Afterward, he said it was the toughest race he's ever had to finish.


"My body just stopped on me. But, I just said to myself ... I'm just going to finish this race and be done with it.'" Alhamra said. "So I made myself finish it, and then (at the finish line) I let my body give in and said, 'to hell with it,' and I fell down."


Instead, on the boys' side, Lyons runner Paul Roberts had the fastest time of the day at 16:13, claiming his third consecutive Class 2A title.


He stuck around to watch Alhamra race in 5A, but could barely watch the end of it.


"I just wish Zach had had a good day," Roberts said. "It's always fun to watch him run, so I wish he could've been at his best so we would've really competed for the fastest times of the day."


Alhamra later said his finish would fuel him going forward -- into the track season and then into college -- while Rainsberger said her finish will hopefully help her catch one of her mentors.


"Maybe I can beat Elise's time next year," Rainsberger said with a grin. "She is such an amazing runner, and she pushed me so much. I just think it'd be cool."


Unexpected names among winners in boys

 
- Sky View Academy's Ben Butler, Palmer Ridge's Eric Hamer and Pomona's Marcelo Laguera soaked in their first individual titles on the boys' side.


"You try not to think how you're going to celebrate. Do I kiss the sky? Do I throw my arms in the air? It's not over 'til it's over, right? You don't want to be premature in your celebration and get outkicked," Hamer, for one, said.


"I just thought, whether I've earned this or not, I'm going to take this all in."


Gregory not focused on Rainsberger

 
- As much as she was pushed and pried, Gregory said she had no interest in comparing times with Rainsberger.


"I'm not racing her (today)," Gregory said. "I'm trying to help my team, not go out and compete with someone not in my race. She's amazing, but my goal was to focus on this race."



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