AURORA | With Cherokee Trail absent this time, Vista PEAK Prep senior Brandon Pearcy would not be denied the Aurora City Championship boys title Thursday.
Third last season behind a pair of Cougars — who missed this season’s race to compete in Saturday’s Cheyenne Mountain Stampede — Pearcy put the hammer down from the first foot he put down on the 3.1-mile course at the Aurora Sports Park and put the field in the dust on his way to the individual championship.
Team-wise, the domination came from Grandview, which had six of the top seven finishers for a winning total of 22 points, which put it well clear of Vista PEAK Prep, which tallied 41. It was the eighth all-time team championship at the meet (which originated back in 1981) for the Wolves, who have taken three of the last four.
Pearcy became Vista PEAK Prep’s first boys qualifier for the Class 5A state meet last season and he also earned the distinction as its first city champion (boys or girls) with a commanding performance.
He and Gateway junior Baker Walusimbi were the first two ahead of the field at the start of the race, but while Walusimbi got caught — and eventually finished eighth — Pearcy kept expanding his advantage. He passed the pace bike in the first mile and ran alone the entire way to the finish line, which he crossed in 16 minutes, 36.72 seconds.
Behind Pearcy came a literal pack of Wolves, who were led by senior Thomas Aarons, who ran alone himself in the wake of Pearcy and posted a time of 18:49.32.
Sophomore Joshua Suh took third-place honors in 19:08.49, while freshman Colton Slagle’s city meet debut finished with a fourth-place result in 19:10.98.
Vista PEAK Prep sophomore Izaiah Pearcy broke up the Grandview parade across the finish line in fifth (running a 19:38.41), but the Wolves secured the last two All-Aurora first team spots when senior Levi Williams and sophomore James Allred crossed the finish line in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Eaglecrest — which also sent runners to the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede — posted the third team score of 75 points with its top finish coming from junior Hunter Alcantara, who was 21st in 23:50.26.
Aurora Central, Gateway (led by Walusimbi) and Hinkley had individuals in the race, but not enough to accrue a team score.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
