Shown below are the breakdowns, by classification and region, for all the schools indicating to CHSAA that they plan/hope to be competing in cross country this fall. It goes almost without saying, however, that not all of the schools shown below will field cross country teams this fall.

2A Region 1 – Aurora West College Prep, Byers, Clear Creek, Dawson, Fort Lupton, Front Range Baptist, Front Range Christian, Heritage Christian, Highland, Loveland Classical, Lyons, Merino, Rocky Mountain Lutheran, Nederland, Shining Mountain Waldorf, Strasburg, Twin Peaks Charter, Vanguard Classical, Windsor Charter

2A Region 2 – Addenbrooke Classical, Banning Lewis Prep, CIVA Charter, Colorado Springs Christian, Colorado Springs School, Denver Academy, Denver Academy of Torah, Denver Christian, Dolores Huerta, Ellicott, Fountain Valley, Golden View Classical, Limon, Lotus School for Excellence, Peyton, Pikes Peak Christian, Stratton/Liberty, Two Roads Charter, Vanguard, Wiggins, Wray, Yuma

2A Region 3 – Antonito, Buena Vista, Centauri, Centennial, Center, Cripple Creek-Victor, Custer County, Del Norte, Hoehne, Kim, Moffat, Monte Vista, Platte Canyon, Primero, Rocky Ford, Rye, Sargent, Sierra Grande, South Park, St. Mary’s (Colo Spgs), Springfield, Swallows Charter, Thomas Maclaren

2A Region 4 – Caprock Academy, Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Crested Butte Community, DeBeque, Dolores, Grand Valley, Ignacio, Lake City, Lake County, Mancos, Meeker, North Fork, Olathe, Ouray, Rangely, Ridgway, Soroco, Telluride, West Grand

 

3A Region 1 – Aspen, Basalt, Coal Ridge, Colorado Academy, Delta, D’Evelyn, DSST College View, Kennedy, Lincoln, Middle Park, Moffat County, Sheridan, Strive Prep – SMART

3A Region 2 – Alamosa, Bayfield, Florence, Gunnison, Harrison, James Irwin, La Junta, Lamar, Montezuma-Cortez, Pagosa Springs, Salida, Sierra, Woodland Park

3A Region 3 – The Academy, Arrupe Jesuit, Arvada, DSST Conservatory Green, DSST Green Valley Ranch, DSST Montview, Eagle Ridge Academy, Faith Christian, Holy Family, Jefferson Academy, Peak to Peak, The Pinnacle, Prospect Ridge, Stargate

3A Region 4 – Berthoud, Brush, Eaton, Estes Park, Frontier Academy, Liberty Common, Northridge, Platte Valley, Resurrection Christian, Sterling, Timnath, University, Valley, Wellington

3A Region 5 – Bennett, The Classical Academy, DSST Byers, Elizabeth, Englewood, Gateway, Jefferson, Kent Denver, KIPP Denver Collegiate, Machebeuf, SkyView Academy, STEM Highlands Ranch, St. Mary’s Academy (Englewood), Weld Central

 

4A Region 1 – Battle Mountain, Central Grand Junction, Conifer, Eagle Valley, Evergreen, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Bear Creek, Mullen, Palisade, Rifle, Steamboat Springs, Summit

4A Region 2 – Alameda International, Aurora Central, Coronado, Discovery Canyon, Falcon, Lewis-Palmer, Littleton, Lutheran, Palmer, Palmer Ridge, Sand Creek, Standley Lake, Wheat Ridge

4A Region 3 – Adams City, Denver North, Denver West, George Washington, Golden, Niwot, Northfield, Regis Groff, Riverdale Ridge, Skyview, Thomas Jefferson, Westminster

4A Region 4 – Frederick, Fort Morgan, Greeley Central, Greeley West, Longmont, Mead, Mountain View, Roosevelt, Severance, Silver Creek, Skyline, Thompson Valley, Thornton, Windsor

4A Region 5 – Canon City, Cheyenne Mountain, Durango, Mesa Ridge, Mitchell, Montrose, Pueblo Centennial, Pueblo Central, Pueblo County, Pueblo East, Pueblo South, Pueblo West, Widefield

 

5A Region 1 – Chaparral, Cherokee Trail, Cherry Creek, Grandview, Hinkley, Overland, Rangeview, Regis Jesuit, Smoky Hill, Ponderosa, Vista Peak

5A Region 2 – Arapahoe, Chatfield, Columbine, Dakota Ridge, Denver South, Fruita Monument, Heritage, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Mountain Vista, ThunderRidge

5A Region 3 – Arvada West, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver East, Erie, Fairview, Legacy, Monarch, Northglenn, Ralston Valley, Pomona

5A Region 4 – Brighton, Centaurus, Eaglecrest, Far Northeast, Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge, Horizon, Loveland, Mountain Range, Poudre, Prairie View, Rocky Mountain

5A Region 5 – Air Academy, Castle View, Doherty, Douglas County, Fountain-Fort Carson, Legend, Liberty, Pine Creek, Rampart, Rock Canyon, Valor Christian, Vista Ridge

There are several noteworthy changes. I’ll try to capture those below, but there will undoubtedly be ones I miss.

  • North Fork, after one year in 3A, moves to 2A.
  • The Classical Academy, a member of 3A Region 2 for better than 20 years, moves to 3A Region 5. That, in turn, enables 3A to try to solve the Western Slope problem by dividing the Western Slope schools between two regions. Previously, there were consistent problems with pulling enough schools into the region to give the Western Slopers a comparable number of teams when compared to other regions.
  • Timnath and Wellington, as new schools, join 3A Region 4.
  • Lutheran moves up to 4A and finds a spot in 4A Region 2.
  • Several schools move up to 5A, including Ponderosa, Erie (wasn’t it just yesterday Erie was 3A?), Centaurus, and Air Academy.
  • Arvada West moves out of 5A Region 2 and into 5A Region 3. That makes 5A Region 2 slightly less a region of death.

If you were wondering why 5A has fewer schools than all the other classifications, it has to do with approved play-downs. The breakpoints for each classification are set before play-downs are assigned. Consequently, 5A ends up with a smaller number of schools than the other classifications.

Each classification will continue to qualify 20 teams for state this fall. That will be the top five teams in each region from 2A, and the top four teams from each region in the other classifications. 

State cross country will continue at Norris Penrose/Bear Creek Regional Park for at least the next two seasons.

There are also several noteworthy coaching changes on tap for this coming fall, but that’s a story for another day.