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Battle Mountain Huskies girls harriers stampede the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede

Battle Mountain girls cross-country celebrates after taking the win at Friday's season-opening Cheyenne Mountain Stampede in Colorado Springs.
Special to the Daily |

Cheyenne Mountain Stampede

Girls

Team

1. Battle Mountain 49; 2. Valor Christian 71; 3. Air Academy 93; 4. Durango 107; 5. Cheyenne Mountain 115.

Individuals

6. Lizzy Harding, 20:14.7

7. Elizabeth Constien, 20:15.0

11. Alex Raichart, 20:26.4

12. Grace Johnson, 20:33.1

13. Brogan Murray, 20:55.0

20. Kaela Fahrney, 21:36.6

30 Bella Rubis, 22:10.3

Boys

Team results

1. Cheyenne Mountain 65; 2. Widefield 116; 3. Air Academy 123; 4. Mead 156; 5. Valor Christian 216; 6. Battle Mountain 221.

Individuals

36. James Moran, 18:21.6

39. David Reilly, 18:27.3

43. Nick Apps, 18:31.8

49. Deagan Fahrney, 18:40.0

54. Nico Piliero, 18:54.7

116. Max Grimaldi, 20:48.1

122. Nick Williams, 20:59.0

COLORADO SPRINGS — One is not meant to make the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede look like a generic Western Slope meet in Delta.

Battle Mountain girls cross-country did just that on Friday afternoon, running away with the 4A title at the site of the state meet two months from now.

The Huskies, the defending state champions, put on an impressive show with a miserly 49 points — this is your yearly reminder that lower is better — with Valor Christian at 71; Air Academy at 93 and Durango (103).



“They ran well,” Huskies coach Rob Parish said. “Our plan was to run together for two miles as a pack and then go hard for that last mile.”

And that, kids is a strategy used in a Delta-like meet, but apparently it also works at pre-state.

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Friday’s smackdown of some of the best in 4A does not guarantee a repeat. Air Academy drubbed the Huskies last season at this meet, and the latter used it as motivation for the rest of the campaign. But, in your big insight from the Vail Daily sports section, finishing first is better than not.

Lizzy Harding and Elizabeth Constien were separated by 3-tenths of a second in sixth and seventh place. For Harding, it was a triumphant return to this course after being sick during last year’s state meet and not being able to finish the race.

Alex Raichart, Grace Johnson and Brogan Murray and went 11-12-13. Yes, Battle Mountain put its five scorers in the top 13.

Kaela Fahrney was 20th and Bella Rubis 30th. These two would have scored for any other team at this meet.

And, if you’re paying attention, then you’ve noticed that Naomi Harding, another of the Huskies’ aces, did not run on Friday. She’s dealing with some shin issues, and was held out as a precaution.

Boys sixth

Battle Mountain boys cross-country also looked pretty sharp in its opener, finishing sixth.

Of course, there’s some serious sibling power on this squad. Four of the Huskies’ seven on varsity have had family members precede them.

“Those guys were great,” Parish said. “They were a little shell-shocked at the beginning of the race. They were deep in the pack and started moving up.”

The Huskies will host the Battle Mountain Invitational a week from Saturday in Beaver Creek.


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