Mohamud Ige let his mind affect his legs Saturday at cross country’s Foot Locker National Championships at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Conscious of a nagging leg injury, and how the trainer told him to approach the 5K race, the Class 4A state champion laid out of the lead pack and finished 10th in a field of the nation’s 40 best harriers.
“I expected to do a lot better,” said Ige, who finished in a time of 15 minutes, 21 seconds. “The trainer told me not to extend on the downhill portion of the course, and I was thinking about that too much.
“I was just being careful, and midway through the race, I realized I was fine.”
Ige, from Denver South, was the top finisher of the three Colorado runners in the race. Crested Butte Academy’s Dan Roberts, who represented his Michigan high school at the race last year, finished 12th with a time of 15:27. Fort Collins’ Noah Shannon crossed the line in 15:39 and finished 19th.
A.J. Acosta of El Camino High in Oceanside, Calif., won the race in 15:01, holding off fellow Californian Michael Coe (15:02) at the finish line.
Roberts, whose team did not compete at the Colorado championships, finished 18th last season in the race and credited his successful jaunt through the national circuit to his altitude training in the fall.
“It helped a ton,” said Roberts, a state champion in Michigan last season. “I felt like the Midwest Regional (Nov. 26 in Kenosha, Wis., won by Ige) was a piece of cake, and I really didn’t risk anything there, because I knew I would take my chances here.”
Said Shannon, who finished third at state, of his day: “I was just happy to be here. I’ve been home maybe nine days in the last three weeks, so I did what I could do with what I had.”
In the girls race, the lone Colorado representative was Class 5A champion Keara Sammons of Smoky Hill.
The University of Oregon-bound Sammons, who won the Midwest Regional, was 17th in a 5K time of 17:58.
Freshman Jordan Hasay (17:05) of Mission College Prep in Arroyo Grande, Calif., cruised to a 14-second victory over Marie Lawrence (17:19) of Reno, Nev.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
