Most high school cross country runners dream of getting to the Foot Locker National Championships in San Diego. Saturday at Balboa Park, reality set in for Colorado’s best in the sport. Boulder’s Kelsey Lakowske (fourth), Highlands Ranch’s Eleanor Fulton (13th) and Columbine’s Woody Kincaid (11th) were in the top 13 and earned All-America honors.
For Lakowske and Kincaid, the sudden rise was even more gratifying. Both seniors took up the sport before their junior years and both were Class 5A state champs this year at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds, with Lakowske claiming her second title.
“It’s all very surreal,” said Kincaid, who became Columbine’s first state cross country champion. “I think about two years ago. I wasn’t doing anything and now here I am.”
A fast start to the boys race left Kincaid back in the pack — and 30th in the 40-man field at the 2-mile mark.
“After I settled down, I knew I had some kick left in me,” Kincaid said. “I passed a lot of kids near the end.”
He was 28 seconds behind repeat winner Lukas Verzbicas of Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Hills, Ill.
After the girls race, Lakowske phoned home to tell her parents of her apparent third-place finish. But a review showed she was edged out by California’s Julie Nacouzi.
“It was like they gave me the pie and I took the first bite, and then they took it back,” Lakowske said.
Said Fulton of her finish: “I’m OK with it, not thrilled. I wanted to be in the top 15.”
The girls winner was Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall Central High School in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y.
