The best in boys cross country in Aurora came from all corners of the city, as runners from five different programs make up the 2024 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Boys Cross Country Team, which is based on state meet performance.
Two of those top talents came away from the season with medals as top-10 finishers in Class 2A runner-up Biruk Begashaw, a senior from Lotus School For Excellence as well as Grandview senior Colton White, who placed 10th in a loaded 5A race.
— Find the full 2024 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Boys Cross Country Team, here
Begashaw came out determined to become his family’s second state champion — his older brother, Kidus, was the 2020 2A winner — and was better than every other runner in the field save for Colorado Springs Christian School’s Andrew Bel, who would not be denied his second straight state title.
Begashaw saved his best for last, as his time of 16 minutes, 16.21 seconds, set his PR by 16 seconds. For the season, he posted nine top-10 finishes.
White capped a strong prep career with an epic performance in the 5A state meet, which was the strongest it had been in quite some time with the addition of runners from programs that moved up such as team state champion Niwot. White had run the state meet three previous times and posted far-and-away his best finish in 10th (90 places higher than in 2023, when he battled injury) with of 15:46.20 that was his third-fastest of the season.
White began his season with a sizable win in the Aurora City Championship race — which featured just five teams — and he went on to place in the top 10 in six of his seven races. His lowest finishes was 15th at the Liberty Bell Invitational at which he set his PR with 15:18.
Regis Jesuit senior Braeden Focht qualified for the state meet for the third time and he finished as the second Aurora runner across the finish line in the 5A race in 32nd place.
Focht had an outstanding season in which he had seven races in which he finished in the top eight, including a victory at the Northfield Nighthawk Invitational, while he was the runner-up at both the Arapahoe Warrior Invitational and the 5A Region 1 meet. Focht established his PR of 14:58 (a program record) during a seventh-place finish at the Liberty Bell Invitational.
Once place behind Focht came Cherokee Trail junior Dylan Smith, who also ran at the state meet for a third time. Smith paced the Cougars — Aurora’s lone team qualifier, who finished 13th in the 5A standings — with a 33rd-place finish that was 22 spots higher than in 2023.
Smith’s season included a three races in which he placed in the top seven — headed by a runner-up result at Wash Park at the Roadrunners Invitational — while he established a PR of 15:34.90 during the Cougars’ trip to Portland, Oregon, to run in the Nike XC race.
Cherokee Trail was the only program with multiple All-Aurora first teamers as Smith is joined by junior Josh Chaedeayne and Carter Getty, who finished 64th and 72nd, respectively, at the state meet.
Chaedeayne’s season included two top-10 finishes — seventh at the Roadrunners Invitational and eighth at the Region 1 meet — and his PR came with a 16:06.10 at the Liberty Bell Invitational, while Getty’s top-10 finish came with a third-place result at the Roadrunners Invitational, while he was just outside the top 10 at the Centennial League Championship meet in 11th place.
Like much of the Cherokee Trail team, Getty’s PR came on the trip to Portland when he ran 15:53.30 at sea level.
Rangeview hadn’t had a state runner since 2019, but ended up with two in the duo of senior Kimi Bulto and freshman Abdinasir Hassan, who pushed each other to make it possible. Bulto had come within range of state qualification in the past, but the arrival of the eager Hassan proved to be a turning point in his quest.
To cap a strong season that include a trio of top-10 finishes — a win at the Denver North Viking Invitational, a fifth-place showing at the Aurora City Championship meet and the ninth at the Region 1 meet that earned him his state spot. Bulto’s PR of 16:18.90 came at the Liberty Bell Invitational.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
