The cross country season is not quite over for many of Aurora’s best runners, as a large contingent of boys and girls will head to the Nike Cross Regionals Southwest meet Nov. 17 in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The Cherokee Trail girls, the third-place team at the Class 5A state meet in October behind all-state performers Cameron and Caitlin McConnell, are set to compete as a varsity team in the championship race scheduled for 11:27 a.m., while the Cougars’ junior varsity will run in an open race.
Grandview also has its full girls team set to run — including Aurora City Champion Kaitlyn Mercer — and the Wolves (running as the Colorado Flyers) will be in the large school field, the same race that will include Isalina Colsman and a contingent from Regis Jesuit, running under the name of Lions Den XC, along with Amelia Johannes and Smoky Hill (aka Buffalo Stampede).
The local boys contingent includes Gateway senior Yonas Mogos — Aurora’s lone boys All-State runner after a fifth-place finish in the 5A state meet — Rangeview’s Luke Sundberg, the Aurora City Champion, and teammate Ryan Slocum, who will all run unattached in the boys championship race.
Rangeview’s Tesamichael Wolde will run unattached in the Large 2 race and Gateway’s Robel Woldegyorgis is entered in the Medium 2 race.
Owen Buehler and the Regis Jesuit boys, also running as Lions Den XC, is in the large school race along with Jake Sheykhet and Grandview (Colorado Flyers) plus Dalton Seymour and Smoky Hill (Buffalo Stampede).
The Southwest Regional races are qualifiers for the 15th annual Nike Cross Nationals Event scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 1, at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon. The top two teams and five individuals in the championship races automatically qualify, while the third- and fourth-place teams will be considered for at-large berths.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports