LOUISVILLE — Watching two older siblings run cross country for Monarch High School, Liz Hogan dreamed about the day she would get to race in their footsteps. When the opportunity finally came this fall to join the team that won the past three Colorado Class 5A girls titles, she was thrilled.
“I’ve been looking forward to running cross country here for four years,” said Hogan, a freshman. “There’s a lot of pride in putting on the uniform. The first time I put on the uniform, I just felt so cool to be able to wear a Coyote jersey.”
It could become even more special Saturday at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, where the Monarch girls can become the first 5A school to win four consecutive state cross country titles.
The Monarch girls also have made an impression nationally, finishing fifth at Nike Nationals last year. This season they have been ranked No. 1 in the U.S., based on time.
Monarch has only two seniors in its top five, twins Karina and Elissa Mann, who are getting Division I scholarship attention.
“It’s been awesome being on the team that’s won three state championships,” Karina said. “It’s a lot of pressure for this race. It would be awesome to win four state championships. I definitely don’t want to end that legacy.”
Karina ran in the state meet in 2011 when the streak began, but Elissa was an alternate.
“Karina and I were thinking about our entire high school careers,” Elissa said. “In Colorado, we’ve only lost two meets in four years. That does add pressure, but our goal is always to win. It’s happened so often, and we never want to stop that. That confidence is always with us. And you never want to be the team to stop the streak.”
Two graduates, Madeline Alm and Kaitlyn Benner, run for the seventh-ranked University of Colorado women’s team. Former CU runner Laura Thweatt, the 2013 USATF club cross country champion, assists head coach Kent Rieder and often runs with the girls.
“Kids know the expectations of this program,” said Rieder, a former Wheat Ridge pole vaulter in his 11th year coaching Monarch. “With the girls winning state and being in the national championships twice now, there’s an expectation they set on themselves. It’s not even something we have to instill as coaches. Now it’s an expectation: If you’re on this team, you’ve got to be good. And, you’ve got to do the work or you’re not going to be even close to varsity.”
Rieder isn’t the only cross country coach who tries to instill team unity with summer training camps in the mountains, but Monarch’s summer getaway takes them above the rest. They spend five days training in Leadville, and on the last day they climb Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado at 14,439 feet.
“I know it’s kind of cheesy, but we kind of call each other family, like our second family,” said the team’s No. 2 runner, sophomore Audrey Lookner. “Altitude camp brings us all together, because we’re all at altitude, we’re all running together up there. Pasta dinners are a way for all of us to connect before races. We all hang out over the weekends, and it’s really nice.”
The Monarch girls go to breakfast together after Saturday runs and even organize camping trips on their own.
“If your team isn’t that close, you’re running for yourself, but our team runs for so much more,” said the team’s No. 1 runner, sophomore Holly Bent. “These girls are like my sisters, we spend hours on end together. I go out there (in races) and I don’t even have to think about how I want to do, I have to think about how I want to do for my team and for my sisters.”
They acknowledge winning the past three state titles brings confidence but pressure, too.
“I’ve only been here one year, obviously, but I have never not won a state title,” said Bent, who . “Every girl on my team has never not won a state title. We don’t want to know the feeling of losing. We have to keep it going because the girls who left last year left a legacy for us and we obviously want to keep it going. It means a lot to uphold the pride of Monarch and the name.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnmeyer
Monarch’s reign
The Monarch girls cross country team will be going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Class 5A state title Saturday. A look at how the Coyotes performed at state the previous three years:
2013
1. Monarch 49
2. Fort Collins 85
3. Cherry Creek 112
Three Monarch runners in top 10: Ashley Litoff, Claire Green and Kaitlyn Benner, all seniors
2012
1. Monarch 91
2. Fort Collins 98
3. Pine Creek 100
No Monarch runners in top 10
2011
1. Monarch 107
2. Fort Collins 177
3. Mountain Vista 243
Two Monarch runners in top 10: Green and Benner, both sophomores
CHSAA Cross Country Championships
Saturday, Norris Penrose Event Center, Colorado Springs
START TIMES
2A: Girls, 9:20 a.m.; boys, 11:30 a.m
3A: Boys, 10 a.m.; girls, noon
4A: Boys, 10:30 a.m.; girls, 12:30 p.m.
5A: Girls, 11 a.m.; boys, 1 p.m.
