By Bobby Reyes for Milesplit
All eyes were on the clock.
Even Cole Sprout‘s.
There were curious glances going back and forth between those big red numerals and the Valor Christian senior, who was pumping his arms hard up the gradual hill. Tiny wrinkles – not of age, but of effort – lined his forehead while his piercing eyes glared at the clock as if he could slow time down through sheer force.
If he wasn’t gritting his teeth in the moment, nearly everyone else watching was, because you could feel the battle waging on from within Sprout. Winning alone was not enough. It had to be fast. The effort had to match the time, or vice versa.
The question for the No. 1 ranked runner in the country wasn’t so much in winning, or by how much, but how fast.
And when Sprout crossed the finish line the clock ticked on by 14:38…
14:38?
Now, that’s a great time run at sea-level – a year ago that would’ve been the third fastest time run in the country behind his own 14:32. But Sprout just dropped the fastest time in the country – at 5,466 feet of elevation.
To put this performance into perspective, a year ago Easton Allred ran the fastest time of the day at Liberty Bell, and it was a 15:17, while Sprout tempoed a 15:33. As the story goes, Sprout went on to win NXR-Southwest in 14:39, ahead of Allred’s 14:41. Sprout finished third at Nike Cross Nationals, while Allred finished fifth.
You do the math…
As impressive – a word that doesn’t fully describe Sprout’s run – was, add the fact that nine seconds back was Cherry Creek junior Parker Wolfe.
If you’re doing that math – that’s a 14:47.
Wolfe clung to Sprout’s super-hero cape and reaped the benefits – that’s for sure, because his 14:47 is currently No. 2 in the country, and I’ll repeat myself when I say it was run at 5,466 feet of elevation. In a state with a handful of national-caliber athletes, Wolfe’s run just threw his name into the hat – that’ the kind of performance that makes the MileSplit 50…
There had been only one sub-15 clocking at Liberty Bell since 2010, and Saturday morning there were two alone…
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Just like the boy’s race, the girl’s race saw a brand new shiny meet record.
Sydney Thorvaldson from Rawlins High in Wyoming was the runaway winner. The senior dominated the stacked field with a stellar 16:40 finish – that’s the second fastest time run in the country. So, repeat the lines with me again, it was run at 5,466 feet of elevation. The result broke Brie Oakley’s 16:43 course record.
Of additional note – Thorvaldson finished 13th at Nike Cross Nationals last year.
Leading the way for Colorado was 2018 Nike Cross Nationals and Footlocker National qualifier Riley Stewart, who not only took the runner-up spot, but she ran a PR of 17:13 – beating her previous best of 17:18 from NXR. Additionally, the time was her first Sub-18 clocking in Colorado.
Cherokee Trail’s Cameron McConnell was just 12 seconds back in 17:24, which was just off her PR of 17:17 from Desert Twilight. Samantha Blair took the fourth spot, running 17:33 while Cherokee Trail’s Mckenna Mazeski got to lay claim as the top freshman in the race, and currently in the state with a fifth place finish, running 17:38.
Taylor Whitfield took the sixth spot in 17:46, just ahead of freshmen teammate Brooke Wilson, who finished one spot back in 17:48.
All in all nine broke 18, and it took an 18:06 to crack the Top 10.
Read more at Colorado Milespilt – https://co.milesplit.com