Colorado Springs – It was more than just an individual title for Joseph Manilafasha.
The Denver North sophomore, who hails from the African nation of Burundi, became the first Vikings runner to cross the finish line first at the state cross country meet.
Manilafasha capped a brilliant 2006 season with a 22-second victory over D’Evelyn’s Kevin Williams in the Class 4A boys race Saturday at the El Pomar Youth Sports Complex.
“It means a lot to me, but more importantly to my coach (Jeff Young),” said Manilafasha, who helped pace a once-dormant North program to a sixth-place finish. “He has been doing this for 15 years, and it paid off.”
The sloppy course around The Vineyard Golf Course did more to dictate the pace and strategy than the runners themselves. Manilafasha took the early lead, and he and Williams set the pace for the entire 5K.
“My goal was to go out in front and just push the pace,” Manilafasha said, “But I found myself having to push more than I wanted to.”
Said Williams, “I was just going to try and stay with him for as long as I could and maybe make a move later on, maybe 2 1/2 (miles), but I couldn’t reel him in.”
After a 20-year drought, the Denver Prep League has produced back-to-back Class 4A individual state champions. Manilafasha followed South’s Mohamud Ige, now running at Central Arizona College.
The team title went to Battle Mountain. Coach Rob Parish’s Huskies – Jonny Stevens, Tony Cristofoli, Jaime Farhmeyer, Colt Nelson (a transfer from Montezuma-Cortez), Mario Gonzales, Lorenzo Walker and John O’Neill – finished with 156 points, Niwot was second with 202, and Ralston Valley finished third with 281.
“Everyone put in a lot of work this summer, and it showed,” said Stevens, a junior.
It was the second straight year Parish has coached a champion, after leading the Battle Mountain girls to their first crown. Parish seemed to enjoy his second go-round a little more.
“For these guys, this isn’t just a three- or four-month journey. A lot of them are three and four years working at this,” he said. “It’s neat to see.”
