FORT COLLINS — All Steven Stoot wanted to do was win. He could see the finish line, but he could also hear the footsteps of Victor Montoya right on his heels. It was an all-too- familiar sound.
And, as it turned out, Saturday’s Class 2A cross country meet at Fossil Ridge High School also was an all-too-familiar scene.
Montoya, a senior at Rocky Ford, caught Stoot just as they approached the finish line. In the process, Montoya, as he had done at regionals the week before and many other times prior to that, snatched victory out of Stoot’s grasp.
The only difference this time was that it was for a state title, the first-such 2A event in Colorado history.
Montoya’s time of 16 minutes, 1.5 seconds was a mere 0.7 of a second ahead of Stoot. Not only did it give him a state title, but it was the extra push that gave Rocky Ford the first 2A boys team title as well.
“I was trying to hold on so that I could get him at the end,” said Montoya, who won state for the first time and finished all-state for the fourth consecutive year. “He got away a little bit, but I finally got him.”
The Meloneers edged out Wiggins, which was led by Gilbert Tucker’s fifth-place finish, 20-21 to take the team title, their second in as many years. Rocky Ford had won three previous team titles, all in 3A, including last year’s.
Fountain Valley (53 points) came in a distant third.
Stoot and Montoya ran neck- and-neck for much of the 3.1-mile course, with the Fountain Valley senior holding a narrow lead throughout. But he was never able to kick in one last dash to put the distance he needed between him and Montoya.
“To race the whole race out front, it’s pretty hard to watch it slip away,” Stoot said. “He’s definitely a good runner. He’s a kid I wish we had on our team.”
The 2A girls race wasn’t as close. Nederland’s Kelley Robinson overtook Erin Kelly of Crested Butte at about the halfway mark. Robinson won the state title in 18:47.8, almost 29 seconds ahead of Kelly.
The Panthers freshman said it wasn’t her intent to sit back and bide her time. She just ran as she normally would.
“I didn’t really have a strategy. I just wanted to get out there and have fun,” Robinson said. “I’m really excited. I didn’t think I was going to come out here and win today.”
She did, and so did her team. Nederland took three of the top five individual spots — Kat Robinson finished third and Rebecca Hermann took fifth — to earn top honors. Nederland finished with nine points. Crested Butte came in second (23) and Rocky Ford third (51).
“We’re such a strong team. I’m so proud of the other girls,” Robinson said.
