LITTLETON — Kelsey Lakowske was one second away from extracting a rival from the record books Friday.
The loquacious Boulder junior had to settle for a first-place finish in the top division of the Liberty Bell Invitational cross country meet at Heritage High School. Well, that and the notion she is rapidly becoming one of marquee names in girls cross country and track.
Lakowske, who won the 3,200 meters at the state track meet in the spring, finished the Liberty Bell in 17 minutes, 35 seconds. Fairview’s Lize Britten holds the record of 17:34 set in 1984.
“That’s our nemesis too,” Lakowske said. “My teammates were saying, ‘Kelsey, how could you? We could have Boulder on that list and not Fairview.’ But, of course, you have to say you have something to shoot for next year.”
Cherry Creek’s Walter Schafer won the Division 1 boys race, finishing in 15:04.9, more than 15 seconds ahead of second-place Pecha Spencer of Campbell County (Wyo.).
“Obviously, this course is really fast and fun to run,” said Schafer, who lists Georgetown, Notre Dame and Wisconsin among potential college choices. “I made my move at the 2-mile mark. That’s when I went for it.”
Albuquerque Academy won the big-school boys’ team title and Fort Collins triumphed in the girls’ competition on a course nearly everyone agreed is one of the fastest on the circuit.
“I probably won’t run faster on another course,” Schafer said.
Said Lakowske, who was 36 seconds faster than Fort Collins’ Rachel Viger: “It’s very notorious as the fastest course.”
Also fast was Highlands Ranch junior Eleanor Fulton, who finished in 17:39.4 to set a record in Division 2 and helped the Falcons to the team title. Highlands Ranch is a 5A school, so Fulton wasn’t quite sure why the Falcons were placed in the second-tier division.
“I really wanted to race some of the other teams in the top division, but getting the top team score is good,” Fulton said.
Scott Fauble of Wheat Ridge was the Division 2 boys winner (15:18.6), and Loveland won the team title.
Out-of-state squads were factors in Division 3, as Laramie won the boys title and Aubree Worden of Scottsbluff (Neb.) was the girls top finisher at 18:34.4. David Perry of Niwot was the boys winner (15:37.1), and Evergreen won the girls team championship.
In Division 4, Ryan Poland of Denver Christian (15:43.5) and Kat Robinson of Nederland (19:35.4) were winners, and Faith Christian was the top boys squad and Vista Ridge the girls winner.
