She has two runner-up finishes and a Class 4A state cross country title. All that’s left for Air Academy senior Katie Rainsberger is to ride out on a wave of glory, perhaps with a few more individual accolades in tow.

That’s not what she cares about, though. She wants help lifting one last trophy.

“This year our team has a really good shot at doing well,” Rainsberger said. “It would be really cool if all seven of us came and did the best we could. That’s even more exciting.”

Rainsberger has had her moment – many of them, in fact. Last fall she won the state championship in 18 minutes, 50.3 seconds, the best time in the meet by a girl in any class. Air Academy finished 13th.

Rainsberger went on to win three individual titles at the 4A track and field state meet. But according to her mother, Katie was most pleased with the fourth.

“All she cared about was that title, in the 4×800,” Lisa Rainsberger said. “It’s nice to do something for yourself to a point, but there’s nothing like sharing it with teammates.”

Rainsberger and in-state rival-turned-teammate Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins added a few stamps to their passports this summer, traveling to Barranquilla, Colombia, for the Pan American Cross Country cup and Guiyang, China, for the Junior World Cross Country Championships.

Rainsberger finished fifth and was the top American in the junior (U20) women’s race in Colombia with a time of 16:44, 15 seconds off the winning time. The team she and Gregory were on earned a silver medal for the United States.

“Being able to represent my country – that’s an opportunity not many people get to have,” Rainsberger said.

Now it’s back to the Kadets, a program Rainsberger helped to put on the map.

“Katie has elevated the momentum of the girls’ program,” Lisa said. “Girls are coming to Air Academy that never thought they could run.”

Katie thinks fellow senior Kayla Wiitala is due for a breakout season.

“She’s been a really strong second runner,” Katie said. “On any other team she’d be the top runner.”

Katie will visit her final three college contenders in September, hopes to sign in November and will soon compete for California-Berkeley, Michigan, or join former Niwot star Elise Cranny, who edged her in the 4A cross country championships in 2012 and 2013, at Stanford.

Her mother, a three-sport All-American and cross country team captain for the Wolverines, as well as the last American woman to win the Boston Marathon in 1985, says she isn’t pushing Katie down the same path.

“I know what a great institution (Michigan) is. I know the coaches are fantastic,” Lisa said. “But it has to be her moment. I want her to say, ‘I want my own legacy. I don’t want to live off my mom’s legacy.’ I want her to say, ‘This is where I want to be.'”

And in the meantime, she wants her driven daughter – who wants to be a doctor – to relax and enjoy the time she has left with her coaches and teammates.

“Behind the scenes makes a lot of sacrifices. As a student-athlete, I want her to lighten up a little bit and enjoy her final year here. It’s her senior year,” Lisa said. “I hope she spends time with friends and teammates, makes sure the pressure doesn’t get ahead of her. She just deserves that.”

One more title – as an individual or especially as part of a group – would make it all so much better.