3A Region 2 Girls: Some by the Script, Some Ad-libbed
It was mostly a foregone conclusion that Alamosa, Salida, and The Classical Academy would advance teams to State out of this region. And, the three powerhouse programs obliged the expectations, nailing down the top three places.
As things turned out, however, St. Mary's and host Woodland Park put up a nice little battle for the fourth and final qualifying position. Led by runner-up Hannah McReavy, St. Mary's had three in the top ten, and all before the neon green singlets of Woodland Park had so much as put in an appearance.
But, appearances--or lack of same--can be deceiving. The green wave of Woodland Park singlets started with Kelsie Bragg in 15th. Soon, Woodland Park had four across without so much as an answer from St. Mary's. St. Mary's' Emma Creech crossed in 42nd (team scoring), followed almost immediately by WP's Annika Dewall in 43rd. Woodland Park was done, but the issue was still not settled. That would be left to Marie Resman. Resman preserved the St. Mary's lead and put a lock on the Pirates advancing to State.
As a side bar, St. Mary's is competing up in the 3A ranks last year and this. You can make a pretty solid case that, had St. Mary's dropped down to 2A with the last change of classification, they would have easily won the region and would be on the short list of contenders for the 2A state title.
Individually, CSCS's Rachel Ingram did battle with McReavy for about one circuit before leaving McReavy in her dust. The result was remarkably similar to last week's league meet contest that also paired up the two, but Ingram made the break from McReavy much sooner this time.
Early in the race, Alamosa ran as a solid pack of five behind Ingram and McReavy, plus Florence freshman Kylie Simshauser. That pack of five broke up considerably over the second circuit as TCA and Salida moved up from more conservative starts.
TCA eventually moved Kaylee Thompson and McKenzie Elliott in places 4 and 5, behind the trio of Ingram, McReavy, and Simshauser. And that would serve to set up a 43-50 TCA win over Alamosa for the regional crown. Tara Sowards would lead the Mean Moose finishers in sixth.
Qualifying as individuals were Simshauser (ending a long dry spell for Florence), Natalie Pollock of James Irwin, and Bragg of Woodland Park.
And probably nobody set a PR on the day. That, too, can be thought of as a dictate of the script.