It’s hard to believe Katie Rainsberger wasn’t 100 percent last year. She won multiple track titles and the Class 4A cross country title, all by wide margins. She finished sixth at Nike Nationals and later went to China to run at the Junior World Cross Country Championships.

If there had ever been a fear of being cast forever in the shadow of former Niwot runner Elise Cranny, it was long gone by now.

Yet on Thursday the Air Academy senior revealed that she had been dealing with severe fatigue. Doctors diagnosed it as a side effect of anemia.

“Something just wasn’t right. We could tell,” her mother, Lisa, said. “We just didn’t know what it was for the longest time.”

Today, mother and daughter say all is well. Katie’s iron levels and energy are back to normal. She’s once again thriving in her mother’s training regimen. And it’s all thanks to eliminating gluten foods from Katie’s diet.

“I’m good. I’m ready to go,” Katie said. “I feel great.”

She showed as much when she set a course record at Monument Valley Park on Thursday, winning the Coronado Cougar Classic in 17 minutes, 6 seconds.

“We didn’t see her after the first ‘K’ (kilometer),” said Doherty sophomore Kayli Tabares, who finished second in 19:20.

It could be a harbinger of things to come.

Rainsberger, who ran the same course at the Cougar Classic last year – and still won – in a time of 18:14, probably won’t have too much challenge in Class 4A.

In a month, Rainsberger will be the heavy favorite to win a second consecutive cross country title. Her biggest test should be Denver North’s Kayla Young, whom Rainsberger beat by 13 seconds at the state meet a year ago. And without anemia, Rainsberger again beat Young by 48 seconds at the revamped state meet course at Norris-Penrose Event Center a few weeks ago.

Then there’s track. Who will beat her then?

“My training has been better, my mental attitude has been better. I’m a lot more focused,” Rainsberger said. “I also have a girls’ team that’s going to push me hard every day.”

Her team finished third on Thursday. Coronado won the Division I girls’ race and Canon City won the Division II race.

On the boys’ side, Salida’s Taylor Stack won the Division I boys’ race, as 4A area contenders Maximilliano Martinez of Widefield and Air Academy’s Luc Hagen finished second and third, respectively.

Peyton’s Garhett Shaw won the D-II race and the Panthers won the D-II team title.

Martinez, the top returning 4A runner from a year ago, and Hagen, who was 10th at state, said they were taking notes on each other during the race.

“At the end of the day it’s kind of like football. You watch the tapes to see how they went against you,” Martinez said. “You really start watching their tactics.”