AURORA | Blake Yount wasn’t going to take a wrong turn Thursday, especially on a course he knows well and enjoys.
A week after the Smoky Hill senior briefly went the wrong way and finished a disappointing 40th at the Arapahoe Warrior Invitational, he ran to the course at Aurora Sports Park — though slightly tweaked — to perfection to win his second consecutive boys championship at the annual Aurora City Championships.
In a very similar result to last season, Yount crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 11 seconds — one second slower than in 2013 — with Grandview senior Nathan Graham repeating as city runner-up. Yount’s teammate, Cody Miller, who was the Buffs’ fifth finisher a year ago, rocketed all the way up to third this season and provided a big boost as Smoky Hill overtook 2013 champion Grandview for the team title.
“Winning individually is the cherry on top, because we were really trying to go for the team title,” Yount said. “As a team effort, we went 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, so the pack was unbelievable. It was a really important meet for us, especially with Grandview and other teams we associated with a lot. We know a lot of the kids in the area, so it’s definitely nice to win a meet where its just us and we can say we won head-to-head.”
As Yount referenced, he and Miller led the way, but the 8-9-10 finish of junior Spencer Bradshaw and seniors Michael Andress and Simon Geday gave Smoky Hill a comfortable 21-point victory over Grandview, which nipped the Buffs by four points last season.
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. IG: Auroraprepsports
2014 AURORA CITY CHAMPIONSHIP CROSS COUNTRY MEET
Sept. 4 at Aurora Sports Park
Boys team scores: 1. Smoky Hill (Blake Yount, Cody Miller, Spencer Bradshaw, Michael Andress, Simon Geday, Amir Kassahun, Michael Anthony) 31 points; 2. Grandview (Nathan Graham, Mick Norton, Cory Smith, Pravan Kalaga, Ben Ehrhard, Nick Franson) 52; 3. Cherokee Trail (Kyle Jones, Duncan Barnhill, Nate Thomas, Brandon Bullock, Michael Lynch, Mason Willie, Jackson Cowley) 79; 4. Regis Jesuit (John O’Hagan, Austin Layne, Parker Churchill, Robert Iriye, Geoffrey Lord, Drew Quirk, Donovan Brucker) 88; 5. Eaglecrest (George Rykovich, Evan Keely, Mason Brown, Andrew Mills, Nick Johnson, Devan Payne) 140; 6. Hinkley 174 (Oscar Briones-Ruiz, Jason Padilla, Roverto Santamaria, Sean Carey, Josue Barrancas, Dylan Van, Jose Rivera); 7. Overland (Yosef Robele, Julian Lang, Michael Reno, Alex Martin, James Artis, Bright Asamoah, Sean Kelly) 201; 8. Rangeview (Ramadan Mohammed, Karl Marquez, Dave Nuttall, Trevor Gregory, Jaxon Setser, Jacob Kipfinger, Dominic Wenger) 202; 9. Gateway (Jordan Roberts, Jordon White, Luis Roche, Abi Hernandez, Charles Reigies, Adam Schrot, Jarrett Reigies) 260; 10. Aurora Central (Jose Millan, Andy Rodriguez, Daniel Gonzalez Beltran, Jordan Henderson, Savion Harris, Danny Nguyen) 283
First team all-city (places 1-7): 1. Blake Yount (Smoky Hill), 16 minutes, 11 seconds; 2. Nathan Graham (Grandview), 16:36; 3. Cody Miller (Smoky Hill), 16:54; 4. Kyle Jones (Cherokee Trail), 17:11; 5. Duncan Barnhill (Cherokee Trail), 17:19; 6. John O’Hagan (Regis Jesuit), 17:26; 7. Mick Norton (Grandview), 17:27; Second team all-city (places 8-14): 8. Spencer Bradshaw (Smoky Hill), 17:42; 9. Michael Andress (Smoky Hill), 17:55; 10. Simon Geday (Smoky Hill), 18:01; 11. Cory Smith (Grandview), 18:02; 12. Austin Layne (Regis Jesuit), 18:02; 13. Oscar Briones-Ruiz (Hinkley), 18:06; 14. Pravan Kalaga (Grandview), 18:16
