Stutzman equals No. 2 competitor in meet history by clocking 16:44 in girls sweepstakes, Groendyk elevates to No. 3 male performer by running 14:48 on Heritage 5-kilometer layout to take boys sweepstakes; Price leads Cherry Creek girls to team title and Strand sparks Cherokee Trail boys championship effort
By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor
LITTLETON – Emma Stutzman of Pomona High and Fort Collins’ Christian Groendyk took advantage of ideal conditions Saturday to produce two of the top all-time performances at the Liberty Bell Invitational, leading the deepest sweepstakes races in meet history at Heritage High.
Stutzman, a senior, clocked 16 minutes, 44 seconds on the 5-kilometer layout, leading four female athletes to sub-17 performances in the girls sweepstakes, benefiting from race-time temperatures in the low 50s after light rain fell the morning of the event.
Prior to Saturday, only Sydney Thorvaldson of Rawlins High in Wyoming, along with Colorado prep standouts Brie Oakley of Grandview and Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins had eclipsed the 17-minute barrier at Liberty Bell.
Stutzman matched Oakley’s 2016 effort to equal the No. 2 all-time competitor. Thorvaldson boasts the top performance in meet history at 16:40.60 in 2019, in addition to running 16:19 on the same course in 2020 at the Heritage Distance Classic.
Ella Hagen, a sophomore at Summit High, elevated to No. 4 in meet history by clocking 16:45.1, senior Addison Price of Cherry Creek ascended to No. 6 all-time with her 16:53.3 effort, edging senior Brooke Wilson of Valor Christian and her No. 7 performance at 16:53.6.
Groendyk, a senior, ran 14:48.0 to also lead four competitors to sub-15 marks in the boys sweepstakes, the most in a single race in meet history.
Only Valor Christian graduate Cole Sprout, who clocked 14:38.40 in 2019, and former Cherry Creek star Parker Wolfe – runner-up the same year in 14:47.30 – have run faster in meet history than Groendyk.
Wolfe produced the top mark on the 5-kilometer layout by running 14:30.10 at the Heritage Distance Classic in 2020.
Hunter Strand, a senior from Cherokee Trail, improved to No. 4 in meet history at 14:50.3, followed by Valor Christian junior Dane Eike elevating to No. 5 all-time at 14:54.1 and Erie senior Evan Kraus equaling the No. 7 performer by clocking 14:58.0.
Sophomore Benjamin Anderson of Mountain Vista just missed becoming the 10th competitor to eclipse the 15-minute mark at Heritage High, finishing…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at RunnerSpace News…