Loveland – Mohamud Ige already is one of the state’s most dangerous runners.
Add a sprinkle of self-confidence, and the South senior may be close to unbeatable.
“I’m a good athlete, that’s a matter of fact,” said Ige, who finished second in the Class 4A state meet last season. “How bad do I want it? How bad do I want to achieve these goals? Whatever I want accomplished, it’s just a matter of time.”
Ige was at his best Saturday against a premier field at the Centerra Classic. After hovering near the front of the pack for the first 2 miles, Ige, who finished in 16 minutes, 3.7 seconds, pulled away in the final 1,200 meters to win over Mountain View’s Tommy Walton (16:20.0) and Fort Collins’ Noah Shannon (16:20.9).
“I was always used to going out hard, but now I just have to learn to kick back and just kick fast,” said Ige, who finished second last month at the Great American Cross Country Race of Champions in North Carolina. “This was a good race for practice.”
The boys’ team race, scored with just the top four runners instead of the usual five, was won by Fort Collins.
Host Mountain View finished second, Liberty was third and South dropped to fourth, after Abuid Mojica took a spill but still managed to finish 17th with an injured hamstring.
The Lambkins’ quartet of Shannon, Tyler Abbey, Paul Brown and Bryant Mason finished 3-4-10-12.
“We hope that we proved ourselves out here today,” Abbey said. “Instead of avoiding the hard teams, we go after them and prove that we are meant to be up there as well.”
On the girls side, it was all about Rocky Mountain. The Lobos dominated the team race, placing four runners in the top 10, including winner Danielle Parry.
Rocky Mountain, which won the prestigious Roy Griak Invite last month at the University of Minnesota, easily bested runner-up and crosstown rival Fort Collins and third-place Smoky Hill.
“We did a nice job and are right on schedule to where we want to be,” said Lobos coach Bob Parry, Danielle’s father. “Our goal is to improve upon our state performance from a year ago, where we finished third.”
Parry, who finished fourth in Minnesota, outkicked a talented field that included Smoky Hill’s Keara Sammons, a third-place finisher in North Carolina, and Fort Collins’ Katie Follett.
Parry’s time of 18:33.7 was five seconds better than Sammons, whom she passed with 200 meters remaining. Rocky Mountain teammate Ellie Rastall finished third, 19 seconds ahead of Follett.
“You have to give them credit, they are great runners,” Danielle Parry said of her competition. “You always want to do well, but you can only do what you can do that day, and we run as fast as we can every day and give it our best effort.”
CENTERRA CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC
At Centerra Park, Loveland
Hosted by Mountain View
BOYS
Team scores (four-runner total) – Fort Collins 29, Mountain View 55, Liberty 80, South 83, North 106, Smoky Hill 116, Rocky Mountain 158, Rapid City Central (S.D.) 167, Regis 176, Thompson Valley 191, D’Evelyn 194, Cheyenne Central (Wyo.) 213, Battle Mountain 216, Loveland 232, Fruita Monument 244, Falcon 329, Windsor 391, Lutheran 403, Brighton 435, Estes Park 441, Thomas Jefferson 444, Mountain Vista 448, Roosevelt 473, Fort Morgan 486, Valley 517, Silver Creek 519, Northridge 522, George Washington 614, Arvada West 637, Horizon 646, Fossil Ridge 649, Berthoud 740.
Individuals – Mohamud Ige, South, 16 minutes, 3.7 seconds; Tommy Walton, Mtn. View, 16:20.0; Noah Shannon, Fort Collins, 16:20.9; Tyler Abbey, Fort Collins, 16:21.7; Kevin Williams, D’Evelyn, 16:33.2; Shea Wilfong, Liberty, 16:37.2; Colin Eckelman, Thompson Vy., 16:38.2; Joe Manilafafha, North, 16:39.7; Eiger Erickson, Smoky Hill, 16:40.1; Paul Brown, Fort Collins, 16:42.5.
GIRLS
Team scores (four-runner total) – Rocky Mountain 21, Fort Collins 62, Smoky Hill 75, Battle Mountain 114, Thompson Valley 117, Cheyenne Central (Wyo.) 125, Mountain View 153, Liberty 199, Loveland 206, Arvada West 208, D’Evelyn 208, Mountain Vista 254, Regis 257, Silver Creek 264, Roosevelt 272, Brighton 360, Falcon 399, Fruita Monument 437, George Washington 440, Northridge 452, Berthoud 475, Horizon 485, Thomas Jefferson 519, Estes Park 528, Windsor, Lutheran, North, South, Fossil Ridge, Fort Morgan, Rapid City Central (S.D.), Valley and St. Vrain no score.
Individuals – Danielle Parry, Rocky Mountain, 18 minutes, 33.7 seconds; Keara Sammons, Smoky Hill, 18:38.7; Ellie Rastall, Rocky Mountain, 18:46.0; Katie Follett, Fort Collins, 19:05.6; Kelly King, Silver Creek, 19:12.1; Jenifer Richards, Rapid City Central, 19:24.0; McKenzie Maher, Rocky Mountain, 19:32.7; Erin Stratton, Smoky Hill, 19:41.2; Kristi Thomas, Rocky Mountain, 19:42.5; Tianna Hurtado, Thompson Vy., 19:51.9.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
