Wheat Ridge girls run to second place at Liberty Bell

Wheat Ridge girls took second in Division 2 at the Sept. 11 Liberty Bell Invitational Cross-Country Meet.

The competition attracted a total of 81 teams from around the state as well as teams from Wyoming, New Mexico and Nebraska.

Organizers used school enrollment to divide the field into four divisions and there were separate races for boys and girls. Division one was for large schools while the smallest schools at the meet ran in Division four.

Wheat Ridge ran in Division 2 and the girls took second in the team standings, behind the winning team from Broomfield.

Amy Leasure was the first Wheat Ridge runner across the finish line, taking 10th place in the individual standings. Teammate Nyla Chamberlin was the team’s number two finisher as she came in 20th.

“My parents and family have always been active but I didn’t start running until my freshman year,” Leasure said after the race. “Running is good exercise, I get time to hang out with friends, have a good time and I am always trying to get better.”

She said the Liberty Bell was a good race for her as she established a new personal best time of 19:08.

“I always try to get better and it always feels good to set a new personal best time,” she said. “I want to continue to get better and my personal goal is to try to record a time of less than 19 minutes by the time the end of the season rolls around.”

The junior said she likes cross-country but she also swims and plays soccer.

A cross-country course covers five kilometers, 3.1 miles. Each meet’s course is laid out by the meet organizers. Some are on send runners out on level dirt and pavement surfaces which makes for good times. Others are hilly and one, the Warrior Invitational, includes a water jump.

The Liberty Bell course is on trails and pavement so it is considered to be a fast course.

Jeffco schools Columbine, Bear Creek and Pomona finished 17th, 18th and 19th in the girls Division 2.

Other area school finishes included the D’Evelyn Jaguar boys running ninth in Division 3.

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