The first time that Mead’s Josh Knight ran the state cross country course at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, as a freshman, he placed 106th out of 151 competitors, clocking in at 17 minutes, 58.8 seconds.

Two years later, after taking 33rd as a sophomore, the now-junior ascended nearly to the top of the Class 4A field. Last month, in the final race of the season at the same venue, he paced toward fourth overall, this time finishing with a 15:43.1.

He ended his run less than a minute behind the champion, Coronado’s Oliver Horton, and beat out Lewis-Palmer’s Noah Thompson by a mere 1.6 seconds. Before the competition even began, he was hoping to make the top five.

“I was just thinking to myself the entire time, ‘I can’t let Noah out-kick me here. I just need to get to

See Full Page