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Skiers test best at state championships

Dale Strode

Jon Severy received the congratulations of a champion Saturday at the State Cross Country Championships – and he finished 109th!

But no one was happier with that 109th place than Jon Severy.

Barely 24 hours after walking out of Aspen Valley Hospital after a five-day stay for a mysterious blood problem, Severy joined his Aspen High School teammates at the starting line for Saturday’s state meet. His teammates had qualified the AHS boys team a week earlier at Regionals when Severy passed out and fell a mile and quarter into that race.



Given full medical clearance to participate this weekend, Severy, of course, took to the starting line.

“I never thought I wouldn’t run,” Severy said, adding that after a week in the hospital he was more than ready to get outside and run.




But, Severy said, less than a half-mile into Saturday’s state championship race he felt weak, “with that blackness coming on.”

So the AHS senior and defending state champion eased back and settled into his own personal race – just an easy run to the finish line.

A year ago, Jon Severy won the state cross country title just a month after the death of his older brother Chris – a former AHS state champion and All-American at CU.

Severy won that race on the rolling hills of the campus of Kent Denver School – to a roar of cheers from the crowd.

This year, Severy was met with similar cheers – and an even bigger dose of congratulations from his fellow runners.

Boys 3A champion Aucencio Martinez of Center paid Severy the ultimate compliment, acknowledging that the Aspen senior probably would have won had he been healthy.

“I was hoping he (Severy) would get better (last week), even though he would have probably beaten me. I wish him the best,” Martinez told reporters in the finish area.

Severy, after the race, was more excited about the finishes of his Aspen teammates.

Michael Otte ran to a strong 14th place in the boys race and Sloane Anderson added an impressive 14th in the girls race on Saturday.

Otte finished in 17:17 in the state field of 148 boys. Conor Flynn of Aspen was 26th at 17:47.

Martinez won on the Kent Denver course in 16:06. The state champion competed in 3A at state even though he is from 2A school Center.

Ben Payne of Faith Christian was second with Michael Witler of Buena Vista third.

Anderson ran 20:46 for 14th in the girls 3A race. Jenny Hamilton of Aspen finished in 22:21 for 68th place. And Korry Johnson was 93rd in 22:46.

Brittany Thompson of Faith Christian, a sophomore, won the 3A girls race in 19:50 for the 5K race (3.1 miles).

Frederick’s Alisha Williams finished second, leaning past Michelle Quinlan of Lutheran at the tape.

They were about seven second behind the winner.

Clear Creek won its second consecutive team championship and sixth in the last seven years by scoring 96 points in the girls race.

Pagosa Springs was second with 104 with Denver Christian third with 105.

Battle Mountain was fourth with 130. Gunnison finished eighth.

In boys scoring, Denver Christian won with 84 points to D’Evelyn’s 88,

Falcon was third with Buena Vista fourth and Gunnison fifth.

In other Regional results, Sami Boyle of Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale finished 16th in the 3A girls race.

And Megan Lund of Alpine Christian Academy in Basalt, who competes on the Glenwood Springs High School cross country team, finished 11th in the Class 4A state championship race.

She is a sophomore and competed in the state meet for the second consecutive year.

The 4A state championship was won by Natalie Hughes of Palisade, who won her second title in three years.

She came from behind to pass defending champion Colleen Blair of Mullen over the last 600 meters.

Hughes, a junior, won the state title when she was a freshman.

Mullen, however, won the 4A girls state title to go along with the 4A boys state title.

Individually, Troy Hernandez of Brighton won the 4A boys race with defending champion Jared Scott of Lewis-Palmer second. Scott was injured most of the regular season

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