AURORA | More than a minute faster than he was the previous year on the same Aurora Sports Park course, Overland’s Grant Bradley cruised to his first Aurora City Championship victory.
Bradley finished eighth at the annual early-season meeting of city programs in 2018 with a time of 17 minutes, 31 seconds, but crossed the finish line this time in 16:21.60 to win a rare boys title for the Trailblazers.
The next-fastest runner across the finish line was junior Jake Sheykhet of Grandview, which recorded a team score of 42 points to win the championship after a fourth-place result the previous season.
Peter Fox (3rd) and Nick Beckman (7th) joined Sheykhet on the All-City first team — top seven — along with another pair of teammates, Sawyer Slauson and Edward Schwandt of third-place Eaglecrest (4th and 5th, respectively), plus Smoky Hill’s Dalton Seymour (6th).
Despite just one finisher in the top 10 — 10th-place Bryson Sutterby — Cherokee Trail managed a team score of 81 points to finish second behind Grandview and four points in front of Eaglecrest in third.
The race was held without defending champion Luke Sundberg of Rangeview — who transferred to Valor Christian — and without him, the Raiders finished sixth with their best effort coming from eighth-place finisher Ryan Slocum.
Smoky Hill, the 2018 city champion, ended up three points behind Eaglecrest in fourth place in a tightly-bunched middle of the pack with Seymour and his twin brother Blake (11th) leading the way.
Bradley’s top support came from Jonael Cid Gonzalez, who finished 14th to grab the last All-City second team position with Abdi Abade just two spots behind that for the fifth-place Trailblazers.
Aurora Central, Vista PEAK and Lotus School for Excellence also competed, but none had enough runners to record a team score.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com.Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
2019 AURORA CITY CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP (BOYS RESULTS)
Team scores: 1. Grandview 42 points; 2. Cherokee Trail 81; 3. Eaglecrest 85; 4. Smoky Hill 88; 5. Overland 92; 6. Rangeview 100; Aurora Central, Vista PEAK, Lotus School for Excellence no score
Top seven individuals (first team All-City): 1. Grant Bradley (Overland), 16 minutes, 21.60 seconds; 2. Jake Sheykhet (Grandview), 16:46.50; 3. Peter Fox (Grandview), 16:52.50; 4. Sawyer Slauson (Eaglecrest), 17:00.70; 5. Edward Schwandt (Eaglecrest), 17:01.30; 6. Dalton Seymour (Smoky Hill), 17:07.20; 7. Nick Beckman (Grandview), 17:08.20; Placers 8-4 (second team All-City): 8. Ryan Slocum (Rangeview), 17:16.90; 9. Josh Walton (Grandview), 17:18.80; 10. Bryson Sutterby (Cherokee Trail), 17:19.50; 11. Blake Seymour (Smoky Hill), 17:27.60; 12. Aaron Brown (Rangeview), 17:28.80; 13. Steven Labarry (Smoky Hill), 17:38.40; 14. Jonael Cid Gonzalez (Overland), 17:44.60
