Dakota Ridge Boys Cross Country Claims 5A Team Title

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — By Dennis Pleuss for CHSAANow.com/JeffCo. Not going after individual accolades worked out perfectly for Dakota Ridge’s boys cross country team Saturday afternoon at Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.

While there was the rabbit of Valor Christian junior Cole Sprout out there to chase, the Eagles were focused on knocking off defending Class 5A boys team state champion Mountain Vista. The pressure didn’t get to Dakota Ridge as the Eagles cruised to the team title with 47 points. Mountain Vista finished a distant second with 76 points.

“It’s unbelievable. Those last five minutes before we found out was so nerve-wreaking. It’s such a relief,” Dakota Ridge senior Austin Vancil said after finishing third individually with a time of 15:42.1. “We had a ton of people here to cheer us on. It’s such a relief to finally get it done.”

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Images: 1) (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) 2) Dakota Ridge sophomore Jacob White placed 10th to help the Eagles to their first boys state cross country team title in a dozen years. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) 3) Dakota Ridge junior Connor Ohlson, right, and senior Austin Vancil finishes second and third in the Class 5A boys race. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)