PUEBLO — The Fort Collins boys and girls cross country teams now know there’s little traffic on southbound I-25 at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning.The 5A Lambkin runners hopped on the team bus before daybreak for the three-hour drive to the Pueblo Centennial Invitational at Elmwood Golf Course.The early commute paid off. The boys and girls both swept 18 other teams on the damp course to take home Division I team titles.“I wanted to instill the importance of morning races. We’ve still got some kinks to work out, but I’m pretty happy with the way things turned out,” said Fort Collins coach Chris Suppes. “The kids got a chance to see an old state course; and they ran on grass, so their legs aren’t so beat up.”Liberty’s girls finished second in Division I with 112 points to Fort Collins’ 32. The Lancers were 30 points ahead of third-place Crested Butte and were led by Hannah Everson’s seventh-place finish (19:21).“Our times weren’t real fast today,” said Liberty coach Gary Weston, “but effort-wise, we did real well.”Fort Collins’ girls took three of the top four spots with Sierra’s Samantha Thompson placing third overall with a time of 19:07.“It was hard but fun,” Thompson said. “I was really working hard to stay with that first group.”Thanks to an acupuncturist, Sand Creek’s Jennifer Bremser is working her way back from injury and finished fifth at 19:18, a minute off her personal best of 18:07.Fort Collins’ Clif Campbell set the boys’ pace at 16:18, eight seconds ahead of the field. Fountain-Fort Carson senior Frank Socha topped all Colorado Springs-area runners with an eighth-place finish (17:16).“I was a little upset. I ran slower than last week’s race (a home meet),” Socha said. “I took it out a little too fast and didn’t have anything at the end.”The Trojan girls finished fourth, and the boys finished fourth as a team, two spots ahead of Widefield. The Gladiators were led by sophomore David Powers’ time of 17:58.Lewis-Palmer’s girls placed fourth and their boys, seventh. Woodland Park’s girls were fifth and boys, ninth, led by Shawn Dubbs’ 17:38, recorded despite his losing a shoe and running the last mile barefoot.

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