Gateway junior Yonos Mogos and Rangeview sophomore Luke Sunberg battle through the finish line Friday. Photo by Bobby Reyes 
Broomfield’s Katelyn Mitchem had a huge early lead. Mitchem was led off course just after two miles when meet organizers stopped the race due to lightning. Photo by Bobby Reyes 
Boulder’s Claudia Burgess unofficially claimed the girls race. Photo by Bobby Reyes 
Lakewood senior Chase Dombusch won the boys race in 15:51. Photo by Bobby Reyes
CROSS COUNTRY:
The trees danced in the wind, singing their autumn song: winter is coming. Their white noise battled with that of cheering fans along the course at the Northwest Open Space in Northglenn Friday.
Runners toeing the line at the Pat Amato Classic were met with galling 40-50 mile-per-hour wind gusts. As they stood facing west, with the mountains looming in the distance, a headwind greeted them. The unwelcome addition to an already challenging ordeal of running a 5k as fast as you possibly can left runners either running with the wind, or against it — there wasn’t any in between.
Some of the best teams from across the state toed the line, among them were Rangeview sophomore Luke Sundberg and Gateway junior Yonas Mogos.
When the gun shot, 272 runners stormed the field, into the wind. The race stalled with no one willing to take the lead, though once they turned back east, just after the half-mile marker, the pace picked up drastically.
With the wind blowing at their backs, Mogos hovered behind the leaders in a quick opening mile just over five minutes. Behind him, Sundberg took a more conservative approach, running further back in the pack.
As the wind took its toll on the competition, Sundberg worked his way through the field and on to the likely shoulder of his cross-town rival, Mogos. The duo ran just outside the top-10 as they entered the final mile.
Mogos and Sundberg battled back and forth in and out of the wind and into the final straightaway.
The two were locked in a final sprint to the finish. Mogos pumped hard through the busy crowd while Sundberg matched him stride-for-stride. The duo crossed within a second of each other with fatigue-ridden smiles on their faces.
Sundberg had taken this round, finishing 13th in 16:32, just ahead of Mogos, who finished 14th in 16:33.
Lakewood senior Chase Dornbusch won the race in 15:51.
Leading APS in the team race was Rangeview, who finished 18th out of 37 teams with 502 points.
Claiming the team competition was Monarch, who put two runners in the top-four, despite not running one of the best runners in the state — Charlie Perry.
The girls race featured the No. 2 team in the state in Broomfield, and while the race did start, it didn’t officially finish. Race organizers cut the race following several lightning strikes in the area. The leaders had passed the two-mile marker, however, and the top-20 runners continued on course while everyone else was stopped. Results were not taken.