Grandview High School, Aurora, CO junior Brie Oakley, left, stands on the medal podium with Fort Collins' Lauren Gregory, center, and Legend's Catherine Liggett after the Class 5A girls race at the 2015 state cross country meet on Oct. 31, 2015, at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center in Colorado Springs. Oakley crossed the finish line in a time of 18 minutes, 17.18 seconds, to finish second and came in less than two seconds behind Gregory, who won her third straight 5A state title. Oakley's finish is also the best in Grandview program history, topping Erin Norton's third place in 2013. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Grandview junior Brie Oakley, left, stands on the medal podium with Fort Collins’ Lauren Gregory, center, and Legend’s Catherine Liggett after the Class 5A girls race at the 2015 state cross country meet on Oct. 31 at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center in Colorado Springs. Oakley crossed the finish line in a time of 18 minutes, 17.18 seconds, to finish second and came in less than two seconds behind Gregory, who won her third straight 5A state title. Oakley’s finish is also the best in Grandview program history, topping Erin Norton’s third place in 2013. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Grandview junior Brie Oakley, left, stands on the medal podium with Fort Collins’ Lauren Gregory, center, and Legend’s Catherine Liggett after the Class 5A girls race at the 2015 state cross country meet on Oct. 31 at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center in Colorado Springs. Oakley crossed the finish line in a time of 18 minutes, 17.18 seconds, to finish second and came in less than two seconds behind Gregory, who won her third straight 5A state title. Oakley’s finish is also the best in Grandview program history, topping Erin Norton’s third place in 2013. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

In her words, Brie Oakley’s debut season in cross country was “insane.”

That’s putting it mildy.

With less time in the sport than probably all of the other 187 runners in the field, the Grandview junior finished second in the Class 5A girls state championship race on Saturday at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center and took her spot on the medal podium next to three-time state champion Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins.

It was beyond the wildest dreams for Oakley, a serious soccer player who just joined the Wolves around mid season at the encouragement of some soccer teammates and absolutely took it by storm.

“It’s just insane, second at state…,” said Oakley, who appeared a bit stunned herself. “I was hoping to go top 10, but I’ll go with second. I had a lot of fun.”

When her epic first season concluded, Oakley posted the highest finish for an Aurora girls runner at the state cross country meet since 2005 when Smoky Hill’s Keara Sammons won the 5A state championship, the last in a string of six individual titles in seven years in the Buffaloes’ era of dominance.

Alone in second place, Grandview junior Brie Oakley eyes the final approach towards the stadium at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center at the end of the Class 5A girls race at the state cross country meet on Oct. 31 in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Alone in second place, Grandview junior Brie Oakley eyes the final approach towards the stadium at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center at the end of the Class 5A girls race at the state cross country meet on Oct. 31 in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

The second place finish also put Oakley in the school recordbooks, as she topped the third-place showing of former Wolves’ star Erin Norton in 2013. With two all-state performances (sixth place as a junior and third as a senior), Norton — who now runs at Iowa State — has been the top end standard for Grandview’s strong girls program.

Oakley set the school record of 17 minutes, 32 seconds on a slightly shortened course at the Aurora Sports Park to win the Centennial League championship and also cruised to the 5A Region 2 championship on Oct. 22. Undaunted by the big stage and appreciative of the newly designed state course, Oakley looked comfortable for the entire state race, but just lost a little bit of contact with Gregory in the second mile.

She briefly entertained hopes of catching Gregory on the final stretch, but instead crossed the finish line less than two seconds behind the Lambkins’ star. Oakley finished second behind Gregory at the Dave Sanders Invitational in only her third cross country race and got a lot closer to catching her this time.

“I thought I had a chance, but she’s definitely more experienced than me,” Oakley said. “I was just trying to close the gap and at the end I was only two seconds behind her…It’s just amazing, I didn’t expect to do so well.”

Eaglecrest senior Janine Taurchini, the Aurora city champion, said she didn’t have a particular goal coming into the race, but she came away pleased with her 16th place result. Taurchini reached the finish line in 19:33.28 and improved a full 92 spots from her 108th-place showing in 2014.

“I wasn’t shooting for anything specific, I just wanted to feel good and run a strong race,” Taurchini said.

Despite Oakley’s efforts, the Wolves finished five points behind Cherokee Trail in the race for Aurora’s top team finish.

Eaglecrest senior Janine Taurchini (966) runs with a pack near the final approach to the finish line at the end of the Class 5A girls race at the state cross country meet on Oct. 31, 2015, in Colorado Springs. Taurchini finished a career-best 16th for the Raptors. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Eaglecrest senior Janine Taurchini (966) runs with a pack near the final approach to the finish line at the end of the Class 5A girls race at the state cross country meet on Oct. 31, 2015, in Colorado Springs. Taurchini finished a career-best 16th for the Raptors. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

Bolstered by the performance of senior Amy McConnell, who ran her fourth career state race, the Cougars came in eighth in the 25-team field with a score of 281. It marked the best team finish in program history for Cherokee Trail, which has qualified as a team for four straight seasons and set the program’s previous best finish with a 10th place showing last season.

McConnell improved in each of state races, moving up from 60th as a sophomore in 2013 to 49th last season as a junior and finally 26 as a senior.

Junior Jordan Herrera finished 40th for a second straight season for coach Josh Tate’s Cougars.

Despite losing last season’s top three runners to graduation, Smoky Hill actually posted a better score (338) than in 2014 (340), but it brought the Buffs in 13th instead of 11th as they’d been a year ago.

Junior Julie Eoff finished 44th (up from 103rd last year) to pace coach Brian Manley’s Smoky Hill team, which ran state with six juniors and a freshman in Amelia Johannes, who turned in a 52nd-place showing in her state debut.

Emmah Johannes, a junior who suffered an injury in the first race of the season and missed the entire season until a return at regionals, was the third runner across the finish line for Smoky Hill in 83rd overall.

Regis Jesuit finished in 21st place as a team for the second straight season, but the five returning runners from the 2014 state meet all improved their place.

Junior Julia Vitella finished in 59th, with sophomore Sydney Lindquist checking in 75th for coach Andrew Drysdale’s Raiders.

Coach Jason Jensen’s Eaglecrest team finished 24th in the 25-team standings as the drop off was significant after Taurchini’s finish as junior Mariah Gordan came in 128th. Sophomore Jess McQuaid, an individual state qualifier in 2014, finished 148th.

Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorsentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel

2015 CLASS 5A GIRLS STATE CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

Oct. 31 at Norris Penrose Equestrian Center

5A girls team scores: 1. Broomfield 112 points; 2. Cherry Creek 120; 3. Fairview 124; 4. Mountain Vista 132; 5. Coronado 162; 6. Monarch 253; 7. Dakota Ridge 271; 8. CHEROKEE TRAIL 281; 9. GRANDVIEW 286; 10. Fort Collins 319; 11. Horizon 322; 12. Pine Creek 335; 13. SMOKY HILL 338; 14. Fossil Ridge 352; 15. Boulder 368; 16. Rock Canyon 405; 17. Rampart 412; 18. Arvada West 436; 19. ThunderRidge 454; 20. Arapahoe 468; 21. REGIS JESUIT 476; 22. Rocky Mountain 482; 23. Heritage 548; 24. EAGLECREST 563; 25. Greeley West 699

5A girls top 10 individuals: 1. Lauren Gregory (Fort Collins), 18 minutes, 15.64 seconds; 2. BRIE OAKLEY (GRANDVIEW), 18:17.18; 3. Catherine Liggett (Legend), 18:24.55; 4. Allie Chipman (Mountain Vista), 18:34.48; 5. Claudia Burgess (Boulder), 19:02.59; 6. Caroline Eck (Mountain Vista), 19:08.69; 7. Maya Browning (Fairview), 19:09.04; 8. Lillian Markusch (Cherry Creek), 19:15.95; 9. Emily Mitchem (Broomfield), 19:17.45; 10. Devon Kroeker (Pine Creek), 19:22.98

5A girls Aurora individual results: 2. Brie Oakley (Grandview), 18:17.18; 16. Janine Taurchini (Eaglecrest), 19:33.28; 26. Amy McConnell (Cherokee Trail), 19:47.20; 40. Jordan Herrera (Cherokee Trail), 20:08.61; 44. Julie Eoff (Smoky Hill), 20:11.43; 47. Caroline Robbins (Grandview), 20:15.25; 52. Amelia Johannes (Smoky Hill), 20:19.20; 59. Julia Vitella (Regis Jesuit), 20:25.25; 75. Sydney Lindquist (Regis Jesuit), 20:40.09; 76. Kennedey McCurdy (Cherokee Trail), 20:40.97; 77. Melanie Jenkins (Grandview), 20:42.68; 83. Emmah Johannes (Smoky Hill), 20:51.40; 94. Caitlin McConnell (Cherokee Trail), 21:01.50; 95. Erica Knibbe (Cherokee Trail), 21:02.09; 101. Kaitlyn Mercer (Grandview), 21:08.25; 104. Rhonda Patrom (Smoky Hill), 21:10.15; 108. Erin Ellington (Grandview), 21:14.44; 111. Lily Brucker (Regis Jesuit), 21:16.83; 115. Carlie Andrie (Smoky Hill), 21:20.36; 123. Ella Steckler (Cherokee Trail), 21:33.78; 128. Mariah Gordan (Eaglecrest), 21:45.23; 139. Liz Thomas (Cherokee Trail), 21:52.05; 141. Devon Johnson (Regis Jesuit), 21:53.52; 148. Jess McQuaid (Eaglecrest), 22:02.72; 149. Sarah Power (Smoky Hill), 22:04.15; 151. Tatiana Rivera (Eaglecrest), 22:07.05; 155. Kelly Grubaugh (Regis Jesuit), 22:09.12; 156. Kayla Vallin (Grandview), 22:11.37; 158. Courtney Kramer (Grandview), 22:17.55; 160. Katie Schilmoeller (Regis Jesuit), 22:18.89; 163. Kaycie Schubert (Smoky Hill), 22:22.15; 169. Megan Tartell (Regis Jesuit), 22:43.46; 179. Madelyn Rivera (Eaglecrest), 23:19.72; 180. Rebecca McMillan (Eaglecrest), 23:21.88; 181. Emily Hunter (Eaglecrest), 23:21.90

Full 5A boys and girls state cross country results, here.

Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor and photographer with Sentinel Colorado. A Denver East High School and University of Colorado alum. He came to the Sentinel in 2001 and since then has received a number...