Colorado Springs – It’s OK to ask. Kaitie Vanatta makes it hard not to.
So, is Vanatta the best female prep cross country runner to come through this state?
The sophomore from Ralston Valley dusted the Class 4A field Saturday for her second state championship, this time finishing more than a minute ahead in 18 minutes, 14.95 seconds, the fastest time of the three girls races at El Pomar Youth Sports Complex.
Vanatta became the 14th two-time girls state champion (including another Saturday winner, Kristen McGlynn of 3A Platte Canyon), and moved one step closer to placing her name among the best ever. However, this doesn’t mean she can yet be compared to any of the three four-time winners (Megan Kaltenbach of Smoky Hill, Emily Plummer of Estes Park and Rebekah McDowell of Wheat Ridge).
Yet.
If Vanatta wins next year, she will be just the fifth three-time winner in state history (Palisade’s Natalie Hughes won three between 1997 and 2000), but those distractions have no place in this runner’s mind.
“I try to get past all of that, block it all out and save it for after the race. I don’t block out my competitors, obviously. I have complete respect for all of them, but running for myself, I have to train my mind a little bit and block it out,” Vanatta said about the pressure of repeating as state champion.
Vanatta took the lead at the starting gun and stretched it to nearly a minute with a bit more than a kilometer remaining in the 5K race. Fellow sophomore Lauren Dorsey-Spitz of Pueblo Centennial gave everything she had and more in the final kick, but she still couldn’t catch Vanatta and assumed the runner-up position for the second consecutive year.
“Kaitie Vanatta – she’s just amazing,” Dorsey-Spitz said. “I always try to get out front right away because the pack is just insane. But I had to let Kaitie go and run my own race. She’s just awesome.”
Thompson Valley won the first team title, boys or girls, in school history, edging Mullen and Cheyenne Mountain. Hannah Pensack-Rinehart, Brooke Regan and Cammi Collier secured top 30 finishes to put the Eagles over the top.
Alamosa sophomore Lindsey Sowards finished 10 seconds behind Dorsey-Spitz for third place, and Conifer’s Jen Webers and Grace Shearrer of Englewood completed the top five.
