* Christian Groendyk, the winner of the sweepstake race, breaks down his race at the Liberty Bell Cross Country Invitational
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This weekend, Christian Groendyk of Fort Collins (CO) High School did something he's never done during a cross country race.
He ran without his watch on.
Going into the Liberty Bell Invitational, Groendyk wanted to run for placement, break the 5K school record of 15:05 and stay in the front pack.
He achieved all three objectives.
It took some heart through the second mile. With 1K left in the race, Groendky felt Cherokee Trails' (CO) Hunter Strand on his shoulders. Groendyk knew he had to leave it out on the course.
Groendyk clocked a 14:48 for the victory and helped the Fort Collins team finish third with a 15:44 average. Strand held onto second with a 14:50 and Dane Eike of Valor Christian (CO) crossed the finish line in third with a 14:54.
Evan Kraus of Erie was the fourth boy under 15-minutes for 5K on this course.
Strand's performance led Cherokee Trail to the team title with 88 points and a 15:27 average. Eike paved the way for Valor Christian to finish second overall with a 15:32 average and 110 points.
BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS 1 Christian Groendyk 12 Fort Collins High School 14:48.00 1 2 Hunter Strand 12 Cherokee Trail High School 14:50.30 2 3 Dane Eike 11 Valor Christian High School 14:54.10 3 4 Evan Kraus 12 Erie High School 14:58.00 4 5 Benjamin Anderson 10 Mountain Vista High School 15:00.30 5 6 Brennan Draper 11 Chaparral High School 15:06.30 6 7 Dominykas Remeikis 12 Summit High School 15:09.20 0 8 Lucas Bossinger 11 Palmer Ridge High School 15:09.30 0 9 Gavin Batron 12 Heritage High School 15:10.40 7 10 Evan Charkut 12 ThunderRidge High School 15:10.90 8
* Emma Stutzman of Pomona celebrates as she crossed the finish line at the Liberty Bell Invitational
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It was a tight race to finish in the girls race.
Pomona's (CO) Emma Stutzman put together nearly a perfect race against a stacked field and against talented runners she hasn't faced yet this season.
The pressure was on as she and Ella Hagen of Summit battled through the 5K course together.
Stutzman finished on top with a US No. 1 time of 16:44 and a 147 speed rating. Hagen was just one second away from Stutzman and Addison Price, Cherry Creek's (CO) sophomore, finished third in 16:53, just two-tenths of a second of Brooke Wilson of Valor Chrisitan (CO).
The team race was quite impressive as Cherry Creek (CO) grabbed the title over Valor Christian and Arapahoe (CO).
GIRLS 5000 METER RUN FINALS ALL RESULTS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS 1 Emma Stutzman 12 Pomona High School 16:44.00 0 2 Ella Hagen 10 Summit High School 16:45.10 1 3 Addison Price 12 Cherry Creek High School 16:53.30 2 4 Brooke Wilson 12 Valor Christian High School 16:53.60 3 5 Ella Johns 12 Fort Collins High School 17:15.00 4 6 Emily Lamontagne 12 Arapahoe High School 17:15.40 5 7 Ava Mitchell 12 Arapahoe High School 17:18.60 6 8 Maelynn Higgins 12 Broomfield High School 17:24.40 7 9 Keeghan Edwards 10 Valor Christian High School 17:24.60 8
The Scoop:
Page 2: V-V-S Invitational featured Saratoga Springs and many girls on the MileSplit50 preseason rankings
Page 3: Noah Breker rewrites the record books at Gale Woods Farm
Page 4: Liberty Bell Cross Country Invitational hosted big performances
Page 5: Nike Heartland Preview showcased South Dakota's talent
Page 6: Irene Riggs dominates Red, White, and Blue Classic