FORT COLLINS – Allie McLaughlin had her fair share of concerns Saturday morning at the 5A girls state cross country meet at Fossil Ridge High School — 187 of them in all.Of those, 186 were actual competitors. But it was the Air Academy senior’s own nerves that probably posed the most serious threat between her and a state championship. And even those weren’t that big of a deal, as it turned out.McLaughlin’s time of 17 minutes, 4 seconds was more than a minute faster than that of runner-up Claire Gallagher of Cherry Creek. The distance between first and second place was the widest of the eight state championship races ran Saturday morning.“I felt pretty comfortable once I got ahead,” McLaughlin said. “(Nerves) wasn’t nearly like last year. I was a little more conscious of things today. It turned out good.”Fort Collins took team honors with 110 points. Highlands Ranch was second with 203 points and Cherry Creek third with 208. Palmer was fourth with 229.The only disappointment for McLaughlin — a minor one at that — was her bid to break 17 minutes. She wasn’t able to do that, but her pace was more than enough to beat the rest of the field.So was that of Denver North’s Joseph Manilafasha. The senior won his second state title in three seasons in a time of 15:08 in the boys’ 4A competition. But it wasn’t like Falcon’s Wes Rickman and Kevin Johnson weren’t trying.“I was trying to get top three, so I accomplished that goal,” Johnson said. “But he (Manilafasha) set a really quick pace, so it was hard to get him.”Rickman and Johnson took second and third, respectively, to help Falcon take top team honors. The Falcons finished with 130 points, well ahead of Wheat Ridge despite the fact that the Farmers placed three runners in the top nine.“The main goal is to win the team championship. An individual goal is nothing compared to sharing it with these guys,” said Rickman, who finished in 15:29, 3 seconds ahead of Johnson.Like Falcon’s boys, the Cheyenne Mountain girls didn’t realistically see an individual title as a goal. But a team championship wasn’t out of the question.Behind sophomore Dani Grossman’s fifth-place finish (18:53), the Indians certainly were in contention. But Laura Tremblay’s second-place finish (18:27.85) helped Thompson Valley deny Cheyenne Mountain its first state title.Thompson Valley finished with 133 points, while the Indians had 159. Alamosa was third with 168.But Cheyenne Mountain was anything but disappointed with their effort.“I thought I’d be in top three, but I’m still proud of what I did,” Grossman said. “I think I did all I could. On the other hand, my team looked good.”Coronado’s boys didn’t look too shabby either. With junior Dusty Solis finishing seventh (16:10.69), the Cougars took third place with 207 points. Cherry Creek won team honors with 137, and Regis Jesuit was second with 157.“I thought we’d do well but not this well,” Coronado coach Doug Hugill said.

Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel was sacked by Denver defensive end Elvis Dumervil during the first half Monday in Foxboro, Mass. Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE