The Scoop: Cameron Todd's Big Move, Plus Upsets & Top Races

Upsets Galore In Colorado As Draper, Rock Canyon And Mucharsky Pull Off Big Wins

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Class 5A Meet Results

Upsets are at the heart of any state cross country championship event, and Colorado was full of them on Saturday. 

There was Rosie Mucharsky, an unexpected champion out of Class 5A who defeated returning national threat Bethany Michalak; there was Chaparral's Brennan Draper, another wild winner in Class 5A who downed pre-race favorite Benjamin Anderson; and we couldn't forget about the Rock Canyon boys, a team on-the-rise who took out Mountain Vista. 

All of this went down in the large-school division, a classification not typically known for such disorder. 

But it made for an exciting show and told a larger story about Colorado, which was full of unexpected wonder over the weekend. 

For Mucharsky, a high school junior from Denver East who won the Region 5A-3 race the previous week, she closed hard and finished in 17:28.80, a full 18 seconds on second-place Tessa Walter. Few would have expected her to find the tape first. 

That performance certainly defied expectations. Michalak, an NC State recruit who finished third at nationals last year, earned the lead early, held on, but then faded to sixth. Mucharsky pounced. 

Draper, meanwhile, made the pass on Anderson and cruised to the line in 15:14.40, five seconds free from the runner-up. Draper wasn't necessarily a complete underdog, as he was coming off a region win himself, but few had seen him run that fast before. Few in Colorado expected him to challenge Anderson. 

He made them regret it. 

Then there was Rock Canyon, which pocketed three runners in the top 20 and finished off Mountain Vista by nine points. A quality team all year long, they finished off the state meet with a title. 

Photo Credit: Bobby Reyes

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From there, it was all Niwot. 

The Class 4A giants didn't disappoint, pocketing two team titles over the boys and girls races, both in resounding fashions. 

The Cougar boys had all five of their runners in the first 21 places and saw a third-place finish from sophomore Rocco Culpepper, who clocked a time of 15:27.8. 

Addison Ritzenhein, meanwhile, dropped a time of 17:08.2, a full 30 seconds on second-place Ella Hagen. The Niwot girls followed in 3-4-6-8 to score 20 points. 

The Scoop: 

Page 1: Todd wins his first Indiana state title, Dowty holds off Southerland

Page 2: Upsets were at the heart of the Colorado state championships

Page 3: Coeur d'Alene earns its stripes, takes down Rocky Mountain

Page 4: Manny Putz battled against Aloysius Franzen in DI race in Wisconsin