Cross Country: Big day for Younts, Smoky Hill at 5A Region 1 meet

AURORA | Running very similar races, Blake and Brynell Yount both finished second in their respective races at Thursday’s Class 5A Region 1 cross country meet.

The Smoky Hill twins both showed strong kick at the end of their races and helped lead the school’s boys and girls teams to berths in the Oct. 26 5A state meet at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center in Colorado Springs.

Brynell Yount finished just in front of teammate Chloe Andrie in the girls race at the Aurora Sports Park, which helped the Buffaloes to a surprising second place finish in the team standings. The Smoky Hill coaching staff projected a fourth- or fifth-place finish for the girls team, but with Jamie Jezier adding a ninth-place result, the Buffaloes finished just two points behind Dakota Ridge for the regional championship.

Blake Yount’s big closing kick earned him a win at the Centennial League Championships a week earlier and also served him well in regionals, where he sprinted past Arvada West’s Connor Lockwood to finish second. Both finished with times of 16 minutes, 4 seconds, putting them well behind regional champion and state championship favorite Cerake Geberkidane of Denver East, who posted a winning time of 15:10.

Cody Miller finished eighth in support of Blake Yount for the Smoky Hill boys, who finished third behind Centennial League rival Arapahoe and Dakota Ridge.

Following the top-10 finishes of Brynell Yount, who came in 43 seconds behind winner Emily Wolff of Arapahoe, Andrie — who wasn’t at full strength due to an ankle injury — and Jezier, Lesley Fatica (27th) and Lana Yeager (29th) helped Smoky Hill to a reasonable cushion for second place ahead of Arvada West. Arapahoe and Littleton finished fourth and fifth to secure the last automatic state team berths.

The scoring contingent for the Smoky Hill boys was rounded by Simon Geday (20th), Philipp Coen (27th) and Spencer Bradshaw (31st).

Individually, Eaglecrest senior Alicia Taurchini finished fifth in the girls race to qualify for her four career trip to the state meet. Taurchini suffered on the closing stretch to the finish line, but finished with a time of 19:38. The next highest-finisher for the Raptors was Taurchini’s sister, Janine, who finished 24th in 21:10.

Eaglecrest finished eighth as a team in both the boys and girls races and the boys had no state qualifiers. Steven Tibbitts had the best finish in 25th.

Aurora Central finished 11th in the boys standings and 12th in the girls.

2013 CLASS 5A REGION 1 CROSS COUNTRY

Oct. 17 at Aurora Sports Park

BOYS

Team scores (top five teams qualify for state): 1. Arapahoe 63 points; 2. Dakota Ridge 73; 3. SMOKY HILL (Blake Yount, Cody Miller, Simon Geday, Philipp Coen, Spencer Bradshaw, Michael Andress, Michael Anthony) 85; 4. Denver East 103; 5. Thornton 112; 6. Arvada West 115; 7. Columbine 207; 8. EAGLECREST (Steven Tibbitts, Luke Meachem, Cameron Dwyer, Damien Squyers, Conner Shonka, Evan Keely, Mitch Haug) 207; 9. Littleton 235; 10. Chatfield 271; 11. AURORA CENTRAL (Abelard Palmer, Shakir Mohamed, Jake Henderson, Daniel Gonzalez Beltran, Nicolas Flores, Jordyn Henderson, Danny Nguyen) 357

Top 15 individuals (qualify for state): 1. Cerake Geberkidane (Denver East), 15 minutes, 10 seconds; 2. BLAKE YOUNT (SMOKY HILL), 16:04; 3. Connor Lockwood (Arvada West), 16:04; 4. Joshua Joseph (Thornton), 16:14; 5. Sean Paiz (Thornton), 16:24; 6. Cameron Mattson (Dakota Ridge), 16:32; 7. Bradley Carney (Dakota Ridge), 16:33; 8. CODY MILLER (SMOKY HILL), 16:45; 9. Nick Moore (Arapahoe), 16:46; 10. Carson Hume (Dakota Ridge), 16:47; 11. Joseph Horen (Arvada West), 16:49; 12. Louis Hood (Arapahoe), 16:56; 13. Steven Goldy (Arapahoe), 16:59; 14. Nick Petersen (Arapahoe), 17:01; 15. Nick Maddalone (Arapahoe), 17:04

Aurora results: Aurora Central — 81. Abelard Palmer, 19:35; 82. Shakir Mohamed, 19:39; 94. Jake Henderson, 21:28; 96. Daniel Gonzalez Beltran, 22:20; 97. Nicolas Flores, 22:52; 99. Jordyn Henderson, 24:43; 100. Danny Nguyen, 24:45; 102. Atnatewos Shiferaw, 29:13; Eaglecrest — 25. Steven Tibbitts, 17:29; 36. Luke Meachem, 17:48; 41. Cameron Dwyer, 17:58; 52. Damien Squyers (Eaglecrest), 18:21; 67. Connor Shonka, 18:42; 70. Evan Keely, 19:10; 78. Mitch Haug, 19:31; 84. Andrew Mills, 19:46; 85. Tom Kennedy, 19:47; Smoky Hill — 2. Blake Yount, 16:04; 8. Cody Miller, 16:45; 20. Simon Geday, 17:18; 27. Philipp Coen, 17:33; 31. Spencer Bradshaw, 17:40; 32. Michael Andress, 17:43; 48. Michael Anthony, 18:15; 63. Amir Kassahun, 18:39; 64. Ryan Parker, 18:39

GIRLS

Team scores (top five teams qualify for state): 1. Dakota Ridge 60 points; 2. SMOKY HILL (Brynell Yount, Chloe Andrie, Jamie Jezier, Lesley Fatica, Lana Yeager, Emmah Johannes, Carlie Andrie) 62; 3. Arvada West 79; 4. Arapahoe 98; 5. Littleton 147; 6. Columbine 169; 7. Denver East 187; 8. EAGLECREST (Alicia Taurchini, Janine Taurchini, Sam Morgan, Jordanne Stobbs-Vergara, Cassidy Henderson, Tara Vigil, Patricia Albentosa) 193; 9. Chatfield 217; 10. Thornton 238; 11. Abraham Lincoln 350; 12. AURORA CENTRAL (Dulce Gonzalez Beltran, Marlene Mendoza, Cynthia Montes, Chastityn Ruiz-Estrada, Teresa Puente, Jennifer Torres-Acosta) 384

Top 15 individual (qualify for state): 1. Emily Wolff (Arapahoe), 18 minutes, 46 seconds; 2. BRYNELL YOUNT (SMOKY HILL), 19:29; 3. CHLOE ANDRIE (SMOKY HILL), 19:32; 4. Erin Rawe-Thomas (Arvada West), 19:35; 5. ALICIA TAURCHINI (EAGLECREST), 19:38; 6. Mandee Middleton (Arapahoe), 19:45; 7. Mia Valerio (Dakota Ridge), 20:06; 8. Erin Renner (Dakota Ridge), 20:13; 9. JAMIE JEZIER (SMOKY HILL), 20:25; 10. Elizabeth Bollendonk (Littleton), 20:28; 11. Cayli Hume (Dakota Ridge), 20:29; 12. Savannah Wiman (Arvada West), 20:32; 13. Maddy Smith (Columbine), 20:39; 14. Kasha Strong (Thornton), 20:39; 15. Vanessa Gonzalez (Dakota Ridge), 20:41

Aurora results: Aurora Central — 88. Dulce Gonazalez Beltran, 25:35; 92. Marlene Mendoza, 27:42; 95. Cynthia Montes, 31:03; 96. Chastityn Ruiz-Estrada, 31:57; 97. Teresa Puente, 33:21; 98. Jennifer Torres-Acosta, 34:35; Eaglecrest — 5. Alicia Taurchini, 19:38; 24. Janine Taurchini, 21:10; 55. Sam Morgan, 22:37; 61. Jordanne Stobbs-Vergara, 22:48; 65. Cassidy Henderson, 22:59; 72. Tara Vigil, 23:21; 81. Patricia Albentosa, 24:10; 84. Rebecca McMillian, 24:44; 85. Jamie Stoner, 25:03; Smoky Hill — 2. Brynell Yount, 19:29; 3. Chloe Andrie, 19:32; 9. Jamie Jezier, 20:25; 21. Lesley Fatica, 21:03; 27. Lana Yeager, 21:12; 28. Emmah Johannes, 21:14; 30. Carlie Andrie, 21:17; 50. Madison Munns, 22:21; 71. Rhonda Patrom, 23:26

Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel.