Ben Butler claimed his second straight 3A boys state title with a 15:50.5. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
It's been a long year of back and forth at the 3A level. But, when it came down to the culminating meet of the season, Alamosa was done with back and heading full-throttle forth. And, it showed in the team scoring. The final tally read Alamosa - 55, Frontier Academy - 118, and a limping-to-the-finish Lamar team at 121.
It's safe to say the state meet wouldn't have ended this way six weeks ago, but Alamosa masterfully handled the terrain of the season. That meant having their top seven all on the start line for state and each able to finish the course in 17:42 or better.
No other team had more than four in that league.
Before anyone could get to the team scoring, however, there was the matter of a duel between Ben Butler and Taylor Stack to settle. On finding Butler after the mass controlled panic of the starting line, Stack parked himself at Butler's side and had every intention of staying there...
