COLORADO SPRINGS | Grandview’s Nathan Graham ran the Class 5A boys state cross country race exactly as he’d planned Saturday with one added bonus, beating Smoky Hill’s Blake Yount.
Relishing the abnormally hot conditions at the Norris Penrose Events Center that were much like the ones he trained in over the summer, Graham executed his strategy to perfection and powered to the finish line for a surprising fourth-place result, the best boys finish in Grandview boys history at the state meet.
Graham, who bumped his 23rd place finish from 2013 out of the school record books, savored passing rival Yount — who had beaten him every single time over the past two seasons — on a late hill and strode across the finish line in 16 minutes, 51.8 seconds.
“I’m on Cloud Nine,” said Graham, who won the Region 2 championship on Oct. 16 after finishing second to Yount at the Centennial League Championships.
“I ran the race exactly how I wanted to,” he added. “I knew the race would go out fast, so I wanted to stay calm, run my race, take the first mile how I wanted to and when they went out fast and got tired, that’s when I did the best.”
Both Graham and Yount started out conservatively, the opposite tact of one of the race favorites, Pine Creek’s Zachary Alhamra, who went out strong at the front of the field and held a lead through the first mile. But while Alhamra faded — eventually dropping all the way to 75th — Graham and Yount moved up.
The sizable hill midway through the race turned out to be the difference, as Graham picked off runners right and left and passed Yount, who was laboring a bit up the hill. Accelerating on the downhill and making sure nobody caught him from behind, Graham surged to the finish line just three seconds behind Rampart’s Ben Dingman, who finished third.
“I felt great, I just didn’t want to let anybody pass me,” Graham said. “I just wanted to keep going at it and was just happy with my performance.”
While Grandview coach Allyson Robbins was disappointed in the boys’ overall team finish of 19th, she marveled at Graham’s execution of his game plan, the same one he had going into last season’s state race.
“Nathan just ran out of his head; we figured he could be in the top 10, but he’s been saying all year year his goals were to be in the top 10 and beat Blake and today, it fell his way,” Robbins said.
Yount — who also bested Graham to win the Aurora City Championship in September — posted his second straight first team all-state (top seven) result, as he improved by one spot in fifth despite running a time of 16:54.1, which was slower than the 16:47.9 that netted him sixth in 2013.
Though he lacked the notorious finishing kick he usually had, Yount did surge in front of Arvada West’s Joseph Horen on the hill leading up to the finish line. His finish was the highest for the Smoky Hill boys since Ryan Deak placed second in 2003.
“I don’t remember the hill being that big,” Yount admitted afterward. “I was worn out getting to the top and I didn’t get the finish that I wanted to.”
Both Graham and Yount have the track season to look forward to in the spring and will have decisions about their futures to make. Graham has applied to the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy, while Yount has looking to run Division I at Oklahoma, UCLA, Wisconsin or Kansas.
Bolstered by the finishes of Yount, Cody Miller in 32nd and Spencer Bradshaw and Michael Andress back-to-back in 71st and 72nd, the Buffaloes finished eighth in the team standings, best among the four Aurora teams in the field by far.
Two of Graham’s closest pursuers in the Region 2 race came across the finish line next, as Cherokee Trail’s Duncan Barnhill grabbed 23rd — a six-place rise from 2013 — and Regis Jesuit’s John O’Hagan came in 26th in his one and only trip to the state meet. Kyle Jones, who ran with Barnhill step-for-step most of the season, finished 40th for the Cougars in a 29-place improvement.
Even with Graham’s high finish, the Wolves only managed a 19th-place finish in the 25-team field as only Pravan Kalaga (97th) made it into the top 100.
Cherokee Trail’s drop-off from Barnhill and Jones went down to Nate Thomas in 143rd, which left the Cougars in 21st place, 19 points behind Grandview.
With the state meet totally new to the entire Regis Jesuit team, the Raiders scored 499 points to finish 24th. Freshman Austin Layne’s 102nd-place result was next-best after O’Hagan.
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
2014 CLASS 5A BOYS STATE CROSS COUNTRY
Oct. 25 at Norris Penrose Events Center
Team scores: 1. Mountain Vista 114 points; 2. Fort Collins 156; 3. Fairview 198; 4. Boulder 223; 5. Cherry Creek 226; 6. Coronado 229; 7. Rampart 241; 8. SMOKY HILL (Blake Yount, Cody Miller, Spencer Bradshaw, Michael Andress, Amir Kassahun, Ricardo Quijada, Simon Geday) 248; 9. Broomfield 250; 10. Arvada West 261; 11. ThunderRidge 307; 12. Heritage 315; 13. Monarch 324; 14. Rocky Mountain 329; 15. Thornton 407; 16. Fossil Ridge 423; 17. Pomona 434; 18. Dakota Ridge 438; 19. GRANDVIEW (Nathan Graham, Pravan Kalaga, Ben Ehrhard, Cory Smith, Mick Norton, Brian Gagnon, Mitchell Horton) 449; 20. Chaparral 455; 21. CHEROKEE TRAIL (Duncan Barnhill, Kyle Jones, Nate Thomas, Hunter Glasgo, Jackson Cowley, Justin Krasauskas, Brandon Bullock) 468; 22. Arapahoe 489; 23. Loveland 491; 24. REGIS JESUIT (John O’Hagan, Austin Layne, Mitchell Bickmire, Robert Iriye, Parker Churchill, Chandler Cochran, Geoffrey Lord) 499; 25. Palmer 504
Top 15 individuals (top seven 1st team all-state): 1. Marcelo Laguera (Pomona), 16 minutes, 19.4 seconds; 2. Josh Joseph (Thornton), 16:42.8; 3. Ben Dingman (Rampart), 16:48.5; 4. NATHAN GRAHAM (GRANDVIEW), 16:51.8; 5. BLAKE YOUNT (SMOKY HILL), 16:54.1; 6. Jake Mitchem (Broomfield), 17:01.6; 7. Joseph Horen (Arvada West), 17:02.4; 8. Bryan Hird (Rocky Mountain), 17:04.1; 9. Joseph Krafsur (Fort Collins), 17:04.7; 10. Adam Egger (Coronado), 17:08.1; 11. Isaac Green (Monarch), 17:13.4; 12. Daniel Mordecai (Brighton), 17:21.0; 13. Daniel Alvarez-Chao (Broomfield), 17:21.2; 14. Connor McCabe (Rampart), 17:21.3; 15. Tyler Matzke (Mountain Vista), 17:26.0
Aurora individuals: 4. Nathan Graham, 16 minutes, 51.8 seconds; 5. Blake Yount (Smoky Hill), 16:54.1; 23. Duncan Barnhill (Cherokee Trail), 17:39.3; 26. John O’Hagan (Regis Jesuit), 17:41.3; 32. Cody Miller (Smoky Hill), 17:48.5; 40. Kyle Jones (Cherokee Trail), 17:58.3; 71. Spencer Bradshaw (Smoky Hill), 18:26.2; 72. Michael Andress (Smoky Hill), 18:27.8; 97. Pravan Kalaga (Grandview), 18:46.2; 102. Austin Layne (Regis Jesuit), 18:48.3; 108. Amir Kassahun (Smoky Hill), 18:50.5; 112. Ben Ehrhard (Grandview), 18:53.0; 124. Mitchell Bickmire (Regis Jesuit), 19:02.0; 136. Cory Smith (Grandview), 19:14.6; 137. Ricardo Quijada (Smoky Hill), 19:15.0; 138. Simon Geday (Smoky Hill), 19:15.2; 143. Nate Thomas (Cherokee Trail), 19:21.0; 151. Hunter Glasgo (Cherokee Trail), 19:25.4; 153. Robert Iriye (Regis Jesuit), 19:30.6; 159. Parker Churchill (Regis Jesuit), 19:43.0; 161. Mick Norton (Grandview), 19:53.0; 164. Brian Gagnon (Grandview), 19:55.2; 166. Jackson Cowley (Cherokee Trail), 19:57.9; 169. Chandler Cochran (Regis Jesuit), 19:59.5; 170. Justin Krasauskas (Cherokee Trail), 20:04.6; 174. Mitchell Horton (Grandview), 20:14.5; 179. Brandon Bullock (Cherokee Trail), 20:27.1; 183. Geoffrey Lord, 20:44.0
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Smoky Hill (248): 5. Blake Yount, 16:54.1; 32. Cody Miller, 17:48.5; 71. Spencer Bradshaw, 18:26.2; 72. Michael Andress, 18:27.8; 108. Amir Kassahun, 18:50.5; 137. Ricardo Quijada, 19:15.0; 138. Simon Geday, 19:15.2; Grandview (449): 4. Nathan Graham, 16:51.8; 97. Pravan Kalaga, 18:46.2; 112. Ben Ehrhard, 18:53.0; 136. Cory Smith, 19:14.6; 161. Mick Norton, 19:53.0; 164. Brian Gagnon, 19:55.2; 174. Mitchell Horton, 20:14.5; Cherokee Trail (468): 23. Duncan Barnhill, 17:39.3; 40. Kyle Jones, 17:58.3; 143. Nate Thomas, 19:21.0; 151. Hunter Glasgo, 19:25.4; 166. Jackson Cowley, 19:57.9; 170. Justin Krasauskas, 20:04.6; 179. Brandon Bullock, 20:27.1; Regis Jesuit (499): 26. John O’Hagan, 17:41.3; 102. Austin Layne, 18:48.3; 124. Mitchell Bickmire, 19:02.0; 153. Robert Iriye, 19:30.6; 159. Parker Churchill, 19:43.0; 169. Chandler Cochran, 19:59.5; 183. Geoffrey Lord, 20:44.0
