Many of the states heavy hitters graduated in the spring of 2014 leaving many to think that this would be a down year for the state. One or two banner runners highlighted each class in what many assumed would be a year of fast times up front followed by a much larger mid pack with a good gap in between.
While last year many meets were slowed by rain, this year only a small handful of meets faced cool weather with many major races seeing 80+ degree heat by boys race time. Additionally, this years’ triumvirate never faced each other in the same competition a single time, while last years’ did several times, making the opportunity to run great marks much harder. We still did see a strong set of performances at the top of the state with the top 3 runners hitting 14:53 (Devyn Keith), 15:00 (Zach Capello), and 15:05 (Eric Coston) which nearly matched the 3 top runners from last year at 14:41 (Zach Albright), 14:49 (Eric Coston) and 15:07 (Bryce Robinson). One point of note, though, is that on the course that did not see any changes this year, Highland Road Park, the top time in 2014 was 14:59 (Devyn Keith) vs the top time in 2013 at 15:06 (Zach Albright).
A look at the depth of the year includes the amount of runners that had gone sub 16. Last year we saw 26 runners break the barrier and this year only one less at 25. Both years saw 6 under 15:30, and through 15:50, 2014 actually as one runner ahead of the year before. There was a big gap at 15:40 or better though, with 2013 having 15 and 2014 having just 10.
Where we see the depth really payoff is in the team race which is one of the reasons the 2014 season had more storylines week to week. In 2013 the only team to average under 16:00 was St. Paul’s and they averaged 15:15 based off of personal bests. The next best team was Catholic High at 16:04. St. Paul’s won every meet against in-state competition by a large margin. In 2014 we saw John Curtis in a similar role, winning the majority of their in-state meets (with one loss on a tie coming to St. Paul’s) but by no means was a dominant force. In their only race against 5A champions Jesuit, John Curtis won by a slim margin of 10 points. Based on personal bests, John Curtis averaged 15:42 but 3 other teams also averaged under 16 minutes (St. Paul’s at 15:49, Jesuit at 15:52, and Brother Martin at 15:56). Many meets around the state which saw one of the top 5A teams vs each other or Curtis were decided by slimmer margins than we had seen the year before.
Lastly, we saw some runners cement themselves as “ready to be elite” with some great performances throughout the XC season which should lead them into great performances in the spring. Hayden Kingfisher made his statement for being considered the top senior in the ‘14 class by usurping Eric Coston in the 5A state race. Could we see sub 4:20/9:30 from Kingfisher in track? While Jeffery Kelley did not improve time-wise from his sophomore year, the junior from Catholic High established himself as a force to reckon with after a 3rd place finish at state. Are we ready to see him become the next Primeaux or Stafford? Connor Killian dropped a major 15:22 to win District in the Catholic league coming off a year where he didn’t even break 9:55. Could this be another runner to put on sub 9:40 watch? And lastly we have to mention the duo at Brother Martin which includes Hayden Courrege who has already run faster than Devyn Keith and Zach Capello did as freshmen, and Chace Edwards who had run 9:42 in the spring and improved by over 20 seconds this XC season. Don’t blink this track season and expect some interesting headlines and performances coming out of LA again this year!
Top CO ‘15 Runners Through XC
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Zach Capello, Ascension Catholic 1A
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Hayden Kingfisher, Parkway 5A
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Chace Edwards, Brother Martin 5A
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Pierce Hill, Catholic 5A
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Hank Patrick, University 3A
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Matthews Vargas, Jesuit 5A
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Keith Mendoza, Shaw 5A
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Michael Schwing, Jesuit 5A
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Trey Stewart, John Curtis 3A
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Patrick Lacour, Jesuit 5A
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Mason Williams, Brother Martin 5A
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Tyler Dugas, John Curtis 3A
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Stephen Singleton, Benton 4A
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John Neal, Northshore 5A
- Brandon McDonald, HL Bourgeois 5A