Niwot’s Perry leads St. Vrain harriers into state competition

By Mark Collins, Longmont Ledger

LYONS — Thursday’s state cross-country regional races were all about setting a comfortable pace and finding a kick at the finish.

Now, for a handful of St. Vrain Valley School District teams and individuals who qualified for the state championship run, this week is all about washing hands, avoiding classmates who cough and getting as much sleep as possible.

The boys’ team from Lyons Middle/High School, along with Lyons girls runner Melissa Roberts, qualified for the state 3A championships. In 4A action, the boys’ and girls’ teams from Niwot, the boys’ squad from Silver Creek and Longmont boys’ runner Tyler Grotting made the cut. All have a spot at the state meet, which is scheduled for Oct. 31 at Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins.

David Perry, second from the left, of Niwot is in the lead of the 4A race. Perry went on to win the regional 3A/4A cross country races at Lyons High School Thursday, Oct. 22. Cliff Grassmick / Longmont Ledger

If the past eight weeks of racing is an indication, though, exactly who makes it to race day isn’t a done deal. Whether it’s been diagnosed as H1N1 or not, the flu has had an impact on high school cross country along the Front Range this fall.

“I think the way it’s going around this year, the flu is going to take a team or an individual out, just because it’s so prevalent on so many teams,” said Lyons head coach Mark Roberts.

Niwot’s teams were missing more than half their members due to flu-like symptoms at one race earlier in the fall. That happened twice to Skyline High, head coach Sara Fadenrecht said.

One of the Silver Creek boys’ runners was suffering flu symptoms prior to running the regionals Thursday, and the illness added nearly 90 seconds to his time, said Silver Creek coach Barbara Keith.

Keith said a different athlete has seemed to come down with the flu each week this season.

“I know I’m seeing more and more kids on my attendance sheet saying ‘out with H1N1’,” added Keith, who also teaches biology at Silver Creek. She said she disinfects her desk three times a day, and encourages her students to do the same.

But on the course, senior Alex Paul and junior Nick Kadlec have been the most consistent runners this fall for the Raptors. ¶
“State is going to be tough,” Keith said. She said in order for her team to place well, runners will have to run a smart race and not let the nerves brought on by the big stage get the best of them.
Kadlec and Paul finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at Thursday’s regionals, a race captured by neighboring Niwot High’s David Perry. The Cougar senior bested the Lyons course record by three seconds, turning in a 15:59 effort on the 5,000-meter run last Thursday.

Perry was 34th in last year’s state meet. He’s looking for a big improvement this time around.

“I want this one to be huge,” he said. “I’m trying to develop a kick. It’s taken a lot of speed work, but it’s going well. I think I can go out there with the leaders and push the pack.”

Niwot sophomore Kaiti Shepherd, who came in fifth in the regional meet with a 19:12 mark in the girls 5K race, led the girls’ team. Niwot head coach Doug Duffy said Shepherd has improved every day this fall.

“Talk about a workhorse, somebody that’s dedicated, somebody that comes to work every day and soaks up everything you need her to,” Duffy said. “Not every race, but every day she gets better and better.”

Longmont senior Tyler Grotting rounds out the Longmont-area 4A qualifiers. He’ll be the lone representative from the Trojans after he finished ninth at the 4A regional.

The top 10 finish was a surprise for Grotting, in part because, due to an early-season ankle injury, it was only his second race of the season. Still, he set a personal record, running the course in 16:57.

Grotting said his intention for the state meet is simple: “My goal is to beat a few kids that I know from Silver Creek and Niwot.”

Lyons junior Melissa Roberts is hoping to better her 19:04 time from last year’s state meet. She missed some training this season with the flu, but could be peaking at the right time.

The Lions’ boys are led by senior Dylan Donohoe, who finished second at the regionals behind Brush’s Amos Bowen, a favorite to vie for the 3A boys crown. Donohoe, too, may be peaking, said his coach Mark Roberts.

“I think he’s ready to drop maybe 20 or 30 seconds at the state meet,” Roberts said. “We’re kind of hoping that the two frontrunners go out and beat each other up a little bit. If Dylan runs smart, then maybe somebody comes back to him, or maybe even both of them.”

First, though, some preventative rest is called for.

“We’re trying to back off everybody these last couple weeks, get healthy and rested,” Roberts said. “And we joke with them all the time, keep away from kids in your class that are coughing.”

Team Capsules
Lyons

The Lions boys’ team squeaked into the state meet with a fifth-place finish in the 3A Region 4 race. Melissa Roberts is the lone girls runner from Lyons to qualify for the state championships.

Top boys runners: Dylan Donohoe, Zach Pfeifer, Chris Smith, Ryan Boucher

Top girls runner: Melissa Roberts

Longmont

Junior Tyler Grotting is the only qualifying runner to represent Longmont High on Saturday.

Niwot

Niwot will send both its boys and girls teams to state. The Cougars have qualified both teams for the 4A championships each fall this millennium.

Top boys runners: David Perry, Zachary Britt, Nick Harris, William Zimmerman

Top girls runners: Kaiti Shepherd, Haley Dennerline, Miranda Lahman, Sara Malang

Silver Creek

The Raptors boys team qualified for state with a 4th-place finish in regionals.

Top boys runners: Nick Kadlec, Alex Paul, Ben Inman-Kuehn, Austin Gunnarson

Contact Mark Collins at BDCTheater@comcast.net.