BRIGHTON | The Rangeview boys cross country team captured the individual and team titles at Thursday’s EMAC Championship meet at Riverdale Regional Park.
Junior Nicholas Mather led the way for the Raiders with a championship-winning time of 17 minute, 44.70, which brought him across the finish line nearly five seconds ahead of runner-up Austin Hill of Brighton and gave his team a great start on a winning score of 36 points. Mather made the jump to the top after a 13th-place finish in 2019.
Hunter Rivers (fifth), Demetrious Brown (seventh) and Soloman Jameson (eighth) gave Rangeview half of the top eight finishers for a 35-point cushion over Prairie View. The Raiders maintained their grip on the league crown, winning it for a fourth straight season.
Hinkley’s Leo Perez posted the second-best individual finish among Aurora boys runners, as the junior grabbed fourth place in 18:13.90. The Thunderbirds finished with a total of 128 points, the same amount as Vista PEAK, which got its top finish from sophomore Matthew Vargas Byrne, whose 19:52.40 put him 19th overall.
Sophomore William Equihua finished 21st to pace Gateway to seventh place.
In a girls race thoroughly dominated by Brighton — which had a nearly perfect score with 17 points — two Aurora runners prevented a sweep of the top five spots for the Bulldogs.
After Brighton’s first four runners had crossed the finish line, Vista PEAK sophomore Grace Dow grabbed fifth place with a time of 20:48, while Hinkley’s Beatriz Jara took sixth in 21:52.30. Dow finished third at last season’s EMAC meet, while Jara was eighth.
Dow’s Bison scored 86 points to grab third place among six scoring places with a two-point separation from Rangeview, which was led by junior Chloe Wetzel’s eighth-place finish.
Gateway didn’t have enough finishers to register a team score, but freshman Leona Ferguson grabbed 13th place with a time of 23:11.40.
Each team was allowed five entries this season due to restrictions on the size of meets due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2020 EMAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 1 at Riverdale Regional Park
Boys team scores: 1. RANGEVIEW 36 points; 2. Prairie View 71; 3. Northglenn 82; 4. Brighton 85; 5. HINKLEY 128; 6. VISTA PEAK 128; 7. GATEWAY 142; 8. Adams City 148
Top 10 boys individuals: 1. NICHOLAS MATHER (RANGEVIEW), 17 minutes, 44.70 seconds; 2. Austin Hill (Brighton), 17:49.40; 3. Ryan Green (Brighton), 17:50.80; 4. LEO PEREZ (HINKLEY), 18:13.90; 5. HUNTER RIVERS (RANGEVIEW), 18:18.70; 6. Daniel Recio Martinez (Northglenn), 18:31.90; 7. DEMETRIOUS BROWN (RANGEVIEW), 18:36.20; 8. SOLOMAN JAMESON (RANGEVIEW), 18:38.10; 9. Kevin Martinez (Prairie View), 18:38.50; 10. Jonathon Herrmann (Adams City), 18:42.70
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Rangeview (36): 1. Nicholas Mather, 17 minutes, 44.70 seconds; 5. Hunter Rivers, 18:18.70; 7. Demetrious Brown, 18:36.20; 8. Soloman Jameson, 18:38.10; 15. Nathan Wetzel, 19:29.30; Hinkley (128): 4. Leo Perez, 18:13.90; 20. Sergio Chaverri, 20:02.30; 32. Edgar Chaverri, 21:34.50; 34. Ramadan Ali, 21:57.50; 38. Luis Guzman, 22:12.50; Vista PEAK (128): 19. Matthew Vargas Byrne, 19:52.40; 23. Tytus Hettich, 20:15.40; 24. Cooper Anderson, 20:15.90; 26. Ethan Moore, 20:33.00; 26. Steven Lenz, 22:02.50; Gateway (142): 21. William Equihua, 20:04.60; 25. Daniel Williams, 20:22.00; 28. Luke Whyte, 21:18.20; 31. Henry Equihua, 21:31.30; 37. Eric Perez, 22:09.10
Girls team scores: 1. Brighton 17 points; 2. Prairie View 69; 3. VISTA PEAK 86; 4. RANGEVIEW 88; 5. HINKLEY 94; 6. Northglenn 111; GATEWAY no score
Top 10 girls individuals: 1. Claire Engelhardt (Brighton), 19 minutes, 26.20 seconds; 2. Danielle Nikolai (Brighton), 20:04.10; 3. Megan Derby (Brighton), 20:19.80; 4. Mckenna Yates (Brighton), 20:36.00; 5. GRACE DOW (VISTA PEAK), 20:48.00; 6. BEATRIZ JARA (HINKLEY), 21:52.30; 7. Brooklyn Yates (Brighton), 22:05.90; 8. CHLOE WETZEL (RANGEVIEW), 22:07.30; 9. Gabrielle Mendoza (Prairie View), 22:55.10; 10. McKinsey Poulson (Prairie View), 22:56.40
Aurora girls team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Vista PEAK (86): 5. Grace Dow, 20 minutes, 48 seconds; 15. Tristyn DiPentino, 23:28.80; 19. Bella McCarty, 24:14.30; 23. Eva Vargas Byrne, 25:20.60; 34. Sabrina Thigpen, 27:45.90; Rangeview (88): 8. Chloe Wetzel, 22:07.30; 11. Kyra Vuong, 22:59.90; 20. Sarah Bridgford, 24:31.60; 25. Caroline Smith, 25:29.40; 31. Ainsley Slocum, 26:42.90; Hinkley (94): 6. Beatriz Jara, 21:52.30; 16. Joana Ramirez, 23:39.00; 24. Vicky Jara, 25:27.10; 27. Angie Ortega, 25:43.40; 28. Katy Sarabia, 26:10.30; Gateway (NS): 13. Leona Ferguson, 23:11.40; 29. Takhia Gulley, 26:19.80; 32. Jorja Whyte, 27:05.00