On a cool, windy Friday Oct 23 evening in Highlands Ranch, the Coronado girls and boys cross country teams came through the Regional Championships, not as champions but as state qualifiers.

Every single member of the team ran personal bests at the hilly course. The Cougars are peaking at the right time.

The all underclassmen team of girls finished 2nd with 90 points behind presumptive state champs Mountain Vista’s 36 and ahead of fellow qualifiers Pine Creek, 102 points, Rampart, 136 points, and Rock Canyon, 149 points. This marks the 8th week in a row – every week this season – that the girls have hoisted a team trophy. This, the most impressive to date, is the CHSAA Regional 2nd place plaque.

The “old ladies” of the team-the two returning state runners from last year who ran today, sophomores Chloe Cassens and Elana Muzzy, lead the charge for the girls, finishing 8th and 15th overall. Following them closely, a pack time of a mere 53 seconds separated runners 1-5, were Madeline Morland, 9, in 18th place, and the dynamic duo of Taylor Dutton, 10, and Faith Roth, 9, coming in together for 24th and 25th places. Dutton sat out the race last week with a minor leg injury but seems to be just fine now. Layla Roebke, 9, came in strong at 52nd place and Isabella Janney, 9, rounded out the Cougars top seven in 65th.

Cassens’ time of 19:01 leaves her just shy of becoming only the second Cougar to break the 19 minute mark in the past ten years. As it is, however, she now owns the second fastest time run inside Colorado’s high-altitude boundaries by a Coronado girl runner, according to Milesplit.

Sophomore Lindsey Murray, instrumental in last week’s CSML victory, who is also a returning State Meet veteran sat out the race today with a mysterious foot injury.

None of the girls can drive a car, yet they are headed to the state championships!

The boys made it into State with the fifth and final qualifying spot. Nic Vai, 12, came in 12th place to pace the Cougars. Michel Swanson, 12, helped earn one more week to his high school career with a 20th place finish. Sophomores Conor Strizich and Andrew Burton came in together for 40th and 41st places while freshman Mac Roberts hard-charged for the last quarter mile to claim the Cougars 5th spot in 46th place and hold off Doherty to secure the state meet qualification.

The Cougars scored 159 points to qualify, behind Chaparral’s 121, Rock Canyon’s 92, Rampart’s 89, and the probable state champion Mountain Vista’s perfect score of 15 points. The Mountain Vista team finished in all of top six spots.

The State Meet will take place on Oct 31 at the Norris Penrose stadium in Colorado Springs. The girls race at 11:00 and the boys at 1:00.