2A cross country: Heritage Christian, Vanguard, St. Mary’s, Lake County claim gold

COLORADO SPRINGS – Staying with the pack for a good chunk of the race was the plan for Heritage Christian’s Jack Nauman. But when the time was right, the senior turned on the jets and pulled away from the group.

He crossed the finish line in 15:55.1 to capture the Class 2A boys cross country individual state championship at Norris-Penrose Event Center.

“(I pulled away) on the downhill in Mile 2,” Nauman said. “It was me and Jay Wood. I kind of dropped him on that uphill but Jay stayed with me for a while. I kind of pulled ahead at the boardwalk.”

That final push allowed him to be to the first runner to cross the finish line and even after a grueling race, he had a smile on his face.

“I’ve literally been dreaming about this since freshman year,” he said.

The Eagles came into the race as the two-time defending state champions, but they couldn’t capture the three-peat. Instead the team title went to St, Mary’s. It is the first cross country title in school history and just the third overall boys state championship for any sport in school history. The Pirates won a boys golf title in 1983 and a boys soccer championship in 2010.

Lyndon Gotelaere was the first Pirate to cross the finish and Jackson Neppl wasn’t too far behind him. The effort from those two made Saturday a historic day for the program and for the school.

“We’ve been wanting this for two or three years now,” Gotelaere said. “We really try to give it our all, especially us seniors.”

They gave it their all, and as a result they have something now that not a lot of boys teams in the history of St. Mary’s have in their possession.

Vanguard’s Campos has another record breaking day

A year ago, Nadhia Campos ran the 2A girls cross country race faster than anyone before her. This year, she wanted to top that time.

She did just that, winning her second state championship with a time of 18:37.1 which broke her own 2A record from last year. It was a hope for her at the start of the race, but it has been more of a goal all season long.

“It definitely was,” Campos said. “I was trying to break it and it was goal from the beginning.”

She accomplished the goal by staying relaxed at the beginning of the race and setting a controlled pace. Once she had a sense of how the race was playing out, she was able to make her move and go for the record.

“I just tried relax and feel it out,” she said.

She wasn’t the only part of the 2A girls race that felt familiar. The Lake County girls put together a solid team effort and came away with their second consecutive team championship. Adele Horning was the first Panther to cross the line and had a time of 20:28.6. Keira King and Violet Hill finished 11th and 12th in the race, respectively.

“We got second my sophomore year,” Horning said. “Since then, we’ve been training to win. Last year was a dream come true so this year we were definitely gung ho for the second.”