BRIGHTON | The Hinkley and Rangeview boys and girls cross country teams couldn’t have been much closer at Thursday’s East Metro Athletic Conference Championship meet.
The Thunderbirds nipped by the Raiders by four points for third place among nine scoring teams competing in the boys race at the Adams County Regional Park Course, while the girls race was even tighter, as Rangeview claimed third by a single point over Hinkley.
Aurora Central finished ninth in the boys team standings, while Gateway had just three runners, not enough to post a team score.
Senior Ben Davis, who didn’t even run for Hinkley at last season’s league meet, posted an Aurora-best sixth-place finish in a time of 17 minutes, 20 seconds, to earn first team all-league honors. Sophomore Oscar Sarabia’s 16th-place finish also gave a boost to the Thunderbirds, who finished with a score of 101 to the Raiders’ 105.
Rangeview’s tandem of seniors Nicholas Sanchez-Jans and Ramadan Mohammed crossed the finish line in 10th and 11th place, respectively, with a gap of nine seconds between them, to pace the Raiders. Mohammed claimed the exact same place he took in 2014, but ran 30 seconds faster.
Senior Jose Millan finished 20th for Aurora Central, which finished ninth among nine scoring teams.
On the girls side, Rangeview finished with a team score of 102, just one in front of Hinkley (103), so the ninth-place finish of senior Sydney Comet provided significant. Comet finished 20th in last season’s EMAC race, but ran nearly two full minutes faster to make a large jump in the final standings, while Mihret Habtamu in 17th and Shynell Moore in 19th provided strong support for the Raiders.
The Thunderbirds, who graduated 2014 league champion Merhawet Taeme, got their top performances from senior Kim Quinonez in 16th, senior Esmerelda Cabrera in 18th, Cynthia Cruz in 20th and senior Nathalie Gomez in 22nd.
Hinkley and Rangeview next head to the same Region 3 meet on Oct. 22 at Northglenn Open Space Park, where they will run against a field also including Boulder, Fairview, George Washington, Greeley West, Lakewood, Legacy, Monach, Pomona, Ralston Valley and ThunderRidge as they aim to earn team or individual places in the 5A state meet.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2015 EMAC CHAMPIONSHIP CROSS COUNTRY MEET
Oct. 15 at Adams County Regional Park XC Course
Boys varsity team scores: 1. Brighton 41 points; 2. Thornton 50; 3. Prairie View 85; 4. HINKLEY 101; 5. RANGEVIEW 105; 6. Northglenn 145; 7. Adams City 220; 8. Westminster 229; 9. AURORA CENTRAL 232; GATEWAY NS
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish, team scoring places)
Hinkley (101): 6. Ben Davis, 17:20; 16. Oscar Sarabia, 17:59; 25. Roverto Santamaria, 18:26; 26. Jason Padilla, 18:28; 28. Andres Ortiz, 18:35; 36. Sean Carey, 19:00; 39. Jose Barrancas, 19:14; Rangeview (105): 10. Nicholas Sanchez-Jans, 17:36; 11. Ramadan Mohammed, 17:45; 21. Michael George, 18:11; 30. Jacob Kipfinger, 18:38; 33. Julian Torres, 18:55; 43. Trevor Gregory, 19:30; 44. Josh Nutall, 19:32; Aurora Central (232): 20. Jose Millan, 18:09; 38. St. Marks Sanders, 19:05; 57. Danny Nguyen, 22:59; 58. Abel Olivas, 23:00; 59. Ernesto Castillo Cabrera, 24:22; 62. Nico Cook, 25:06; Gateway (NS): 33. Jordan Roberts, 18:52; 55. Dominic Williams, 21:50; 61. Charles Riegies, 23:12
Girls varsity team scores: 1. Brighton 38 points; 2. Prairie View 53; 3. RANGEVIEW 102; 4. HINKLEY 103; 5. Northglenn 108; 6. Thornton 147; 7. Westminster 182
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish, team scoring places)
Rangeview (102): 9. Sydney Comet, 21:04; 17. Mihret Habtamu, 22:31; 19. Shynell Moore, 22:52; 23. Arielle Maes, 23:30; 34. Dreightyn Godfrey, 25:27; 35. Mariah Lee, 25:28; 37. Rebecca Bowers, 25:43; Hinkley (103): 16. Kim Quinonez, 22:18; 18. Esmerelda Cabrera, 22:34; 20. Cynthia Cruz, 23:01; 22. Nathalie Gomez, 23:17; 27. Maria Acevedo, 23:58; 31. Jackie Avitia, 24:48; 32. Raiza Reyna, 25:05; Aurora Central (NS): 41. Gabriela Vaquerano Erazo, 26:25; 47. Ruth Ortiz Barron, 29:11
Expanded EMAC Championship meet results, here.