AURORA | A course that measured a little long worked perfectly in George Rykovich’s favor Thursday.
The emerging Eaglecrest junior used the final stretch before the finish line to outlast Smoky Hill’s Spencer Bradshaw to win the Aurora City Cross Country Championship boys race at the Aurora Sports Park to become only the school’s second all-time city winner.
A distant 16th at last season’s city meet, Rykovich used the extra bit of fitness he and his teammates have developed to join Steve Curtis — who won back-to-back in 2002 and 2003 — as the only Raptors to win the meet since the school ran in the meet for the first time in 1991.
Bradshaw’s final push came up short as he crossed the finish line two seconds behind Rykovich, who clocked a winning time of 18 minutes, 18 seconds, while Eaglecrest’s Mason Brown took third.
“That ending could have gone either way, my teammate Mason Brown and Spencer Bradshaw put up a great fight,” Rykovich said. “I thought it was just a great effort all the way around by all of us. It feels great.”
Until Rykovich’s victory, Smoky Hill had a virtual stranglehold on the boys individual city championship, as Blake Yount (2014 and 2013), Charlie Kleeman (2012), Kyle Ames (2011 and 2010) and Eiger Erickson (2009) had given the Buffs seven straight victories.
Bradshaw, who finished eighth last year, made his bid to extend the streak to eight when he stayed close with Rykovich and tried to make a move in the final straight away, only to be slowed by a stiff wind as he rounded the corner with the finish line in sight.
“It was really close, I thought I could take him when it came down to the last bit, but I think the wind took it out of me,” said Bradshaw, who finished in 18:20.
“My plan was to go out and win this thing, let them take it out at whatever pace they wanted and try to pick them off in the last 1,000 meters. But that wind was just a killer at the end. I made the move too early so I ended up killing myself and I think he drafted off of me. But he raced really well. It was definitely a fight.”
Brown came across the finish line five seconds behind Bradshaw to give coach Jason Jensen’s Eaglecrest team a great start in the team chase, but Cherokee Trail proved too deep to overcome.
With Jackson Cowley and Kyle Stafford as the frontrunners, the Cougars proved the definition of a pack in winning the Aurora city team title, just its second all-time.
Cowley, who was Cherokee Trail’s seventh runner across the finish line at last season’s city championship meet, finished fourth overall and was followed closely by Stafford in fifth. Next came five straight Cherokee Trail finishes in places eight through 12 in Rylan Wallace, Bryson Nelson, Hunter Glasgo, Michael Lynch and Aaron Redman.
Grandview, Overland and Regis Jesuit skipped the varsity meet to run other meets Friday and Cherokee Trail took advantage to win fairly handily.
“What I told the kids ahead of time, I felt like Grandview would be the favorites if they were here, but we weren’t going to apologize to anybody if we were city champs,” Cherokee Trail coach Chris Faust said.
“We were going to come out and run our best and that’s what they did.”
Losing Yount and Cody Miller, the Nos. 1 and No. 3 finishers at last season’s meet, made it a challenge for Smoky Hill in its quest to repeat as city champions and win a sixth championship in seven seasons.
The Buffaloes ended up third, six points behind Eaglecrest, with three all-city first team performers in Bradshaw, sixth-place Jemil Kassahun (18:52) and seventh-place Ricardo Quijada (18:58).
Vista PEAK’s Niles Gilmore broke up the finishes of the top three schools with his 13th-place finish, which earned him second team all-city honors.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2015 AURORA CITY CHAMPIONSHIP CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS (BOYS)
Aug. 27 at Aurora Sports Park
Boys team scores: 1. Cherokee Trail (Jackson Cowley, Kyle Stafford, Rylan Wallace, Bryson Nelson, Hunter Glasgo, Michael Lynch, Aaron Redman) 36; 2. Eaglecrest (George Rykovich, Mason Brown, Nick Johnson, Devin Payne, Connor Shonka, Cameron Magor, Gavin Morgenegg) 54, 3. Smoky Hill (Spencer Bradshaw, Jemil Kassahun, Ricardo Quijada, Brent Montoya, Tristan Magers, Kaden Muckey, Jeff Burkhardt) 60; 4. Rangeview (Ramadan Mohammed, Karl Marquez, Michael George, Kipp Corby, Trevor Gregory, Jacob Kipfinger, Julian Torres) 105; 5. Hinkley (Oscar Sarabia, Roverto Santamaria, Dylan Van, Sean Carey, Brandon Meza, Jose Rivera, Alan Rios) 132; 6. Vista PEAK (Niles Gilmore, Bailey Murphy, Joshua Zimmerman, Anthony Mata, Andrew Yarbrough, Nathan Dixon) 168; 7. Aurora Central (Jose Millan, Daniel Gonzalez Beltran, Jordan Henderson, Abel Olivas, Daniel Nguyen) 208
First Team All-City (top seven): 1. George Rykovich (Eaglecrest), 18 minutes, 18 seconds; 2. Spencer Bradshaw (Smoky Hill), 18:20; 3. Mason Brown (Eaglecrest), 18:25; 4. Jackson Cowley (Cherokee Trail), 18:32; 5. Kyle Stafford (Cherokee Trail), 18:41; 6. Jemil Kassahun (Smoky Hill), 18:52; 7. Ricardo Quijada (Smoky Hill), 18:58
Second Team All-City (places 8-14): 8. Rylan Wallace (Cherokee Trail), 18:59; 9. Bryson Nelson (Cherokee Trail), 19:05; 10. Hunter Glasgo (Cherokee Trail), 19:19; 11. Michael Lynch (Cherokee Trail), 19:24; 12. Aaron Redman (Cherokee Trail), 19:24; 13. Niles Gilmore (Vista PEAK), 19:35; 14. Nick Johnson (Eaglecrest), 19:56
For full individual results for all teams, click here.
