PARKER — Before the shotgun start of the 3,200-meter run, Highlands Ranch senior Eleanor Fulton started loosening up. Everyone else standing in lane one followed suit. That would be the last time Fulton’s competition would be so close.
In the final individual race of the ThunderRidge Invitational at Sports Authority Stadium on Saturday, Fulton led the field by 18 seconds halfway through the eight-lap race and finished in 11 minutes, 17.85 seconds — 28.42 seconds faster than the runner-up.
The runners chasing Fulton weren’t her only competition.
“It was disappointing. The wind made me really tired,” said Fulton, the reigning state champion in the 3,200 and 1,600 meters. “If I get off on the first lap, then I’m way off on the next couple. It is exhausting, and mentally it is not that much fun.
“It is exciting to be ahead of the field, but I would like to be better than I am right now. I have more work to do.”
Fulton also won the 1,600, beating Cherry Creek’s Olivia Anderson by 8.27 seconds.
In the first large meet since the 2010 state championships, it was the first time the athletes had been tested in outdoor elements against the top competitors in the state. Winds gusting to 39 mph noticeably hindered many of the field events and added an extra hurdle for the runners.
Regis Jesuit senior Casey Young, the 2010 state champion in the 110 and 300 hurdles, experienced success and defeat in his best events. He took first in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.69, but in the 300 hurdles he crashed after the fifth hurdle, finishing fourth.
Regis Jesuit sophomore Ana Holland grabbed the top spot in the 200 and finished second in the 100. Chaparral’s Gavin McKinney won the 100 in 10.88 seconds.
ThunderRidge won the boys title, and Regis Jesuit paced the girls.
