Palmer Ridge runner shaves 20 seconds from personal best in Cougar Classic

Palmer Ridge senior Spencer Wenck ran away from the competition with a powerful display at the Cougar Classic cross country meet at Monument Park on Thursday.

Wenck set a personal record of 15:38, and was followed by area runners Andrew Goodman of Palmer, who took third at 16:25, and Jesse Mathews from Coronado, who took fifth at 16:37.

“I just really pushed myself and picked it up in the last mile,” Wenck said. “I’m really proud that I was able to beat my best time by about 20 seconds, it felt good.”

Cheyenne Mountain, ranked first in the state in 4A by milesplit.com, edged Coronado 92-93 in the team competition.

The Indians had five runners in the top 25 — including Mitch Kasyon at 13th and Postyn Smith at 17th — leaving coach Stan Lambros pleased.

“The guys worked together, they worked hard, and we had good chemistry overall today,” Lambros said.

Mathews had the best day of any runner for the host Cougars, who beat second-ranked Pueblo South by 21 points.

“We don’t want to rest on our laurels because everyone is improving and wants to get better, and this is a confidence boost for us,” Mathews said.

On the girls’ side, Liberty thoroughly dominated. The Lancers won with a score of 64 — 37 points ahead of second-place Palmer.

Hannah Everson won in 18:33, and teammate Gina Hauptman finished fourth.

“I just had a plan and I wanted to keep a good pace, and in the end I felt really good so I pushed harder the last mile and was able to set a personal record,” Everson said.

Lancers coach Sydney Mondragon was beaming with approval.

“I am so proud of them, this is the first big team win we’ve had this season,” Mondragon said. “The girls are really coming together as a team and it’s exciting to see them accomplish a team goal.”

St. Mary’s Sydney Harris finished third with a time of 18:54.