LAKEWOOD — When she begins her college running career next year at the University of California, Jordyn Colter should get her chance to run down Elise Cranny, the former Niwot star who currently races for rival Stanford.
Still, Colter, a Cherry Creek senior, decided Saturday would be a good time to get an early jump on competition with her good friend. On a cold, windy afternoon at Jefferson County Stadium, Colter won the Class 5A 1,600-meter race in a Colorado high school record time of 4 minutes, 46.22 seconds. That broke the record of 4:47.54 set last year by Cranny.
“I thought about the record a little bit, but I was a little tired from (Friday),” said Colter, who set a Colorado prep record of 2:04.56 in the 800 meters on the second day of the state track championships. “When I crossed the finish line and saw the time, I thought: ‘Are they sure that’s right? I don’t know if that’s right.’ “
Believe it. Records continue to be smashed in a golden age of Colorado girls distance runners. Colter’s historic race put an exclamation point on what has been a celebrated era the last two years.
Last month, Colter was in California, alongside Air Academy junior Katie Rainsberger and Fort Collins sophomore Lauren Gregory, competing in the prestigious Arcadia Invitational track meet, which featured top runners from across the country.
The Colorado trio gathered before the race, Colter said, and decided they would show the field what “Colorado power” was all about.
All they did was finish first (Colter), third (Rainsberger) and fourth (Gregory) in the mile race — all of them crossing the line under 4:49.00.
“It was amazing,” Gregory said. “I think Colorado gets overshadowed. With the altitude, our times don’t always compare, but it’s really cool to go out and show what we can do. Don’t overlook us. We’re Colorado.”
Saturday, all three of the state’s elite runners praised Cranny — who while at Niwot broke state records in the 1,600 and 3,200 that had been set by Boulder’s Melody Fairchild more than two decades earlier — for inspiring them to push their limits. Rainsberger, who swept the 4A 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter races, had given Cranny everything should could handle during last season’s state meet. This year, even as she ran unopposed in the lead of each race, Rainsberger remembered those close races.
“Having someone right there who you know can beat you, it pushes you to your limits and tests how far you can go,” she said.
With Cranny gone, the three superlative runners continued to push one another, and they grew close. Rainsberger and Gregory traveled together to China in March to run for the United States at the IAAF world junior cross country championships against the planet’s best runners. The two Colorado runners were the second and third Americans to cross the finish line.
“It was the best experience of my life, I think, just what you learn culturally,” Gregory said. “The racing was something else. I was in the race having the best time of my life, thinking, ‘What the heck am I doing here?’ You look to your right and there are Ethiopian runners — well, actually you have to look way in the front to see them. You’ve got runners from China, Korea. … It was just so cool to be out there.”
As Colter and Gregory climbed down from the awards podium Saturday, they hugged and congratulated one another on the thrilling 1,600, which was neck-and-neck before Colter exploded over the final 300 meters.
“I want to see you on top of this podium the next two years,” Colter told Gregory.
“You’ve got it,” the sophomore replied.
Colorado power isn’t done yet.
Nick Kosmider: 303-954-1516, nkosmider@denverpost.com or
