3A cross country: Liberty Common, Alamosa and TCA take top honors

COLORADO SPRINGS – All Isabel Allori really wanted was a personal record. She achieved that and much more en route to the Class 3A girls cross country championship. She crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 10.3 seconds.

It’s definitely a PR and the result now stands better than anyone as it is the 3A state record.

“It was really fun,” she said. “I knew I was going pretty fast but I didn’t know how the time was going to come out. When I turned into the stadium the clock still had 16 on so I knew it was going to be 17-low. It was just really fun.”

It was a marked improvement over her effort from last year where she ran an 18:56. Her effort on Saturday now stands as her own record and will stand in the history books for now as the fastest 3A girls time at the state meet.

The team title was claimed by Alamosa thanks to a solid effort from the top three runners. Sarah Delacerda, Madeline Castillo and Elizabeth McQuitty all finished in the top 13 in the field. What might be even more impressive is that all three of them will return next season.

This could be the start of an impressive run for the Mean Moose and they’re already thinking about championship ambitions for next year.

“We’re looking to repeat, obviously,” Delacerda said. “We need some freshmen to step up and replace some of the seniors that we’re losing. But I think we can definitely repeat next year.’

TCA boys face the blessing of high expectations

Chandler Wilburn had enough of finishing second. The TCA senior, whether at state cross country or state track, has four runner-up finishes to his name. So he took matters into his own hands as he made the turn to enter the woods on the state cross country course.

By the time he entered the stadium, he was well clear of Eaton’s Logan Gullett. He crossed the line in 15:46.3 to capture the 3A boys state championship. To make matters even sweeter, his teammate Matt Edwards wasn’t far behind and the Titans won the team championship as well, living up to the expectations that have routinely been placed on the program.

“It’s not necessarily a burden of expectations, but a blessing,” Wilburn said. “TCA has had such a good program for so long because we’ve had incredible coaching and we have a school and families that really pour into us.”

The love they feel from their following definitely serves as fuel. After last year’s state title win, coach Alan Versaw drifted into retirement and in his place, Matthew Norton hasn’t allowed the program to lose a step.

“It’s the atmosphere that we build with each other and with our team as a whole,” Edwards said. “Even through struggles, we’re there for each other. We’ve had consistency with our assistant coaches and even with a major coaching change, I think we took it well and were able to work through it together.”

The results would certainly indicate that as once again the Titans hoisted a state championship trophy high in the air.