COLORADO SPRINGS — Cole Sprout cemented his legacy as possibly the best distance runner in Colorado high school history, but you could never tell by his celebration.

No arms raised, no fist pumps and no passionate roar to match the crowd’s, either.

The Valor Christian senior instead ran himself into total exhaustion Saturday at the state cross country championships when hitting the finish line inside the Norris-Penrose Events Center. Sprout fell to one knee as volunteers rushed to pick him up, because, as usual, he had nothing left to give.

When I start to really hurt there is a part of me that just wants to slow down and stop,” Sprout said. The grit is just being able to push that aside, overcome your emotions and how you re feeling and just finish strong. It s not always easy.”

Sprout claimed his third consecutive state title and broke the course record he set last year with a blazing 15-minute, 12-second finish (4:54 mile pace) in the Class 5A competition. Sprout said he took it relatively easy” the first mile before opening things up on the second, when the course became hillier. In Sprout s final high school cross country race, he left nothing to chance and beat second-place Connor Ohlson of Dakota Ridge by 12 seconds.

There were definitely nerves,” Sprout said. I wanted it to go well, so a lot of preparation went into it. The race felt good and controlled. The last half was painful, but I felt pretty confident that I would be able to finish strong.”

Sprout has one more season of track and field at Valor Christian this spring and will soon pick between scholarships to Stanford and Washington for college. However, it s already worth asking a much bigger question about Sprout’s Colorado legacy: Is he the greatest boys distance runner in high school state history? Time for a quick check of the resume.

— Entered Saturday as the third-ranked prep cross country runner in the nation, per dyestat.com.

— Four-time Colorado Gatorade athlete of the year award winner for cross country (2017-18) and track and field (2017-18).

— Colorado high school record holder for the mile (4:06), 3,000 meters (8:13) and 3,200 meters (8:40).

— Five Colorado individual state high school titles: thrice in cross country and twice in track.

Placing Sprout atop the list of all-time Colorado running greats would put him ahead of homegrown legends such as 2000 Olympian Adam Goucher (Doherty), 2011 USA Cross Country Championships winner Brent Vaughn (Smoky Hill) and current senior director of Nike’s global running footwear Bret Schoolmeester (Denver Christian). But if you ask Erik Boal, a national editor with dyestat.com in attendance Saturday, there is little debate who reigns supreme in the Rocky Mountains.

“It’s unequivocally Sprout if we’re talking about the entire range of the athlete on the track and in cross,” Boal said. “It’s not even close.”

Valor Christian coach Greg Coplen called Sprout “the grittiest athlete I’ve ever coached.”

Sprout handles such praise in a manner similar to his finish-line antics with little boasting. His excellence extends to the classroom, too, where Sprout touts a GPA above 3.9. He also volunteers his time for the charity Operation Christmas Child. One last cross country championship is simply a reminder of how far he has come.

It s incredibly humbling,” Sprout said. There have been an incredible number of athletes who have come before me. To be mentioned among those guys is really awesome.”

Prep cross country
2019 CHSAA state championships at Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs
Boys
Class 5A
Teams: 1. Dakota Ridge, 67; 2. Mountain Vista, 121; 3. Rock Canyon, 160.
1. Cole Sprout (Valor Christian), Sr., 15:12.7
2. Connor Ohlson (Dakota Ridge), Sr., 15:24.8
3. Parker Wolfe (Cherry Creek), Jr., 15:35.3
4. Cole Nash (Chatfield), Sr., 15:39.2
5. Gus McIntyre (Palmer), Sr., 15:39.6
6. Jacob White (Dakota Ridge), Jr., 15:50.7
7. Ben Morrin (Dakota Ridge), Sr., 16:02.1
8. Caleb Mann (Liberty), Jr., 16:05.5
9. Scott Prieve (Palmer), Jr., 16:06.5
10. Wes Beckham (Rock Canyon), Sr., 16:13.2

Class 4A
Teams: 1. Niwot, 70; 2. Durango, 119; 3. Cheyenne Mountain, 156.
1. Cruz Culpepper (Niwot), Sr., 15:36.1
2. Dylan Schubert (Thompson Valley), Sr., 15:48.5
3. Erik LeRoux (Cheyenne Mountain), So., 15:50.3
4. Luke Tichi (Durango), Sr., 15:53.0
5. Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos (Green Mountain), Jr., 15:54.1
6. Matthew Mettler (Air Academy), Sr., 16:05.9
7. Colin Szuch (Evergreen), Sr., 16:14.9
8. James Overberg (Centaurus), Jr., 16:15.4
9. Zack Gacnik (Conifer), Jr., 16:18.1
10. Matthew Storer (Air Academy), Sr., 16:23.5

Class 3A
Teams: 1. Frontier Academy, 77; 2. Classical Academy, 89; 3. Skyview Academy, 137.
1. Mason Norman (Classical Academy), Sr., 15:50.8
2. Owen Nolan (Skyview Academy), So., 16:27.6
3. Josh Medina (Alamos), Jr., 16:36.9
4. Elco Garcia (Bayfield), Sr., 16:48.0
5. Jacob Crookston (Jefferson Academy), Jr., 16:51.7
6. Alex Baca (Gunnison), Jr., 16:55.3
7. Branden Davis (Lamar), So., 17:01.3
8. Sylas Chambers (Frontier Academy),Jr., 17:04.3
9. Jaden Davis (Frontier Academy), Sr., 17:04.5
10. Hudson Majeski (Liberty Commons), Sr., 17:09.4

Class 2A
Teams: 1. Lyons, 14; 2. Peyton, 38; 3. Rocky Ford, 56.
1. Isaac Robert (Lyons), Sr., 16:19.6
2. Noel Lopez (Rocky Ford), Sr., 16:29.2
3. Andre Stablein (Front Range Christian), Sr., 16:39.1
4. Jodzuel Juarez (Ellicott), So., 16:50.5
5. Simon Stone (Lyons), Sr., 16:54.9
6. Micah Zeller (Custer County), Jr., 17:08.0
7. Rosston Sherlock (Buena Vista), Jr., 17:13.4
8. Tim Long (Platte Canyon), Sr., 17:14.9
9. Jordan Shackelford (Lyons), Sr., 17:20.0
10. Dylan Brush (Sr. Mary’s), So., 117:28.3

Girls
Class 5A
Teams: 1. Arapahoe, 69; 2. Cherry Creek, 99; 3. Cherokee Trail, 157.
1. Riley Stewart (Cherry Creek), So., 18:12.3
2. Cameron McConnell (Cherokee Trail), So., 18:24.6
3. Brooke Wilson (Valor Christian), Fr., 18:30.1
4. Emma Stutzman (Pomona), Fr., 18:33.2
5. Taylor Whitfield (Valor Christian), Jr., 18:37.2
6. Ava Escorcia (Arapahoe), Fr., 18:44.1
7. Ava Mitchell (Arapahoe), Fr., 18:44.4
8. Addison Price (Cherry Creek), Fr., 18:46.9
9. Ella Johns (Fort Collins), Fr., 18:58.8
10. Elizabeth Schweiker (Ralston Valley), Sr., 19:05.8

Class 4A
Teams: 1. Niwot, 37; 2. Battle Mountain, 71; 3. Air Academy, 117.
1. Samrawit Dishon (Niwot), Sr., 18:11.9
2. Samantha Blair (Eagle Valley), Fr., 18:15.1
3. Joslin Blair (Eagle Valley), Sr., 18:27.9
4. Madeleine Burns (Durango), Sr., 18:33.6
5. Ella Johnson (Glenwood Springs), So., 18:37.4
6. Amelia Philofsky (Niwot), So., 18:45.6
7. Hope Stark (Cheyenne Mountain), So., 18:46.2
8. Grace Johnson (Battle Mountain), Jr., 18:49.2
9. Elliot Pribramsky (Battle Mountain), So., 18:54.5
10. Madison Shults (Niwot), Fr., 18:56.9

Class 3A
Teams: 1. Classical Academy, 50; 2. Faith Christian, 88; 3. Basalt, 119.
1. Sierra Bower (Basalt), Jr., 18:00.1
2. Sawyer Wilson (Classical Academy), Fr., 18:44.5
3. Lilly Lavier (Alamosa), Sr., 18:50.7
4. Kylie Simshauser (Florence), Jr., 19:02.0
5. Kennedy McDonald (Classical Academy), So., 19:04.5
6. Allison Beasley (Peak to Peak), Jr., 19:14.8
7. Shannon King (Faith Christian), Sr., 19:28.4
8. Kylie Kenny (Aspen), Jr., 19:31.1
9. Audrey Orstead (Faith Christian), Jr., 19:42.1
10. Julia Brown (Frontier Academy), Sr., 19:46.6

Class 2A
Teams: 1. Lyons, 9; 2. Buena Vista, 61; 3. Golden View Classical Academy, 69.
1. Quin Gregg (Lyons), So., 19:24.9
2. Helen Cross (Nederland), Sr., 19:34.5
3. Jamieson Legh (Lyons), Fr., 19:58.4
4. Audrey Maroney (Rye), So., 20:00.2
5. Katie Fankhouser (Lyons), Sr., 20:00.8
6. Mallory Salazar (Buena Vista), So., 20:29.0
7. Ashleigh Gardner (Caprock Academy), Sr., 20:31.2
8. Adele Horning (Lake County), Fr., 20:37.8
9. Emma Dikken (Platte Canyon), Jr., 20:40.5
10. Molly McMurry (Buena Vista), So., 20:43.1