Hilltopper Boys And Girls Varsity And JV Cross Country Teams Run Personal Bests At Pat Amato Classic

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on October 21, 2023
- 8:13 am

Sophomores, Sam Prada and Cole Luscher. Courtesy/Nicole Allen

Senior Audrey See ran a career best time of 21:35. Courtesy/Nicole Allen

By LINDSEY MONTOYA
LAHS
Co-Head Coach

The Hilltopper boys and girls varsity and JV cross country teams headed to Northglenn, Colorado to face a contingent of strong Colorado teams at the Pat Amato Classic.

This meet has become a tradition of sorts for the top 14 Hilltopper runners and the results this year did not disappoint. Out of 27 Hilltopper runners that completed the 5k course, 20 were able to run career personal bests for the distance.

The girls JV team was first to race on the day and they set the tone with a 3rd place team finish out of 16 schools. The only teams better were Rapid City Stevens from South Dakota and Northfield High School from Denver. Leading the charge was freshman Amelia Hill (7th) in a new personal best time of 21:09. Hill was closely followed at the finish line by senior Audrey See (12th), junior Ella Miranda (14th), freshman Elizabeth Buck (15th), sophomore Catherine Price (24th), junior Sadie Evans (25th) and junior Claire Whitley (33rd).

The boys JV team was also up for the challenge of running against top Colorado teams and individuals and took full advantage of cool weather and finished in 2nd place as a team, the highest of any Hilltopper team at the event. The only team better was Coronado High School of Colorado Springs. Sophomore Gus Ovaska ran like a man on a mission and finished in 10th place individually in a new career personal best of 17:52, the first time he has ever dipped under 18 minutes for the distance. Nearly joining the sub 18 club were freshman William Gartz (13th) and Andres Enriquez (14th) in 18:01 and 18:02 respectively. Freshman William Hudlemeyer was next (18th), followed by sophomore Sam Prada (26th), sophomore Cole Luscher (34th) and junior Kieran Vigil (48th).

The girls varsity team finished in 3rd place amongst a field of 16 teams and only behind Chaparral High School of Denver and Summit High School of Frisco, CO. Senior Anna Wetteland, a standout swimmer for LAHS, used her land legs to run a career best time and joined the sub 19 club with a 18:59 finish in 9th place. Following closely behind Anna were the freshman pair of Grace Montoya (12th) and Ensley Jorgenson (13th). Next across the finish line was junior Rebecca Beaux (23rd), sophomore Mila Mosley (38th), senior Lucy Kelley (58th) and junior Lena Ronning (92nd).

Running last on the day was the boys varsity team. It seems like more often than not, the boys have been running one or two boys short at every meet they attend and this one was no different. Junior Duane Sena, the 2022 state individual runner-up finisher, stayed behind due to an injury and the boys had to learn how to make up that for that missing low stick finish. Leading the Hilltoppers for the 3rd time this season was junior Benjamin Sanchez who finished with a career personal best time of 16:23 in 13th place. Having his best race of the season was junior Eddie Gartz who finished in 49th place. Next across the line was senior Armando Inbody (53rd), junior Mikey Bane (66th), and senior Grafton Urbatsch (78th). The final finisher for the boys was junior Brayden Allen who ran a career best time of 17:50 and broke 18 minutes for the first time. The boys varsity placed 8th out of 27 teams competing.

Junior Eddie Gartz was all smiles after his best finish of the season. Courtesy/Nicole Allen