Pine Creek cross country coach Stephen Flannery knew the league title would be a tight race.

But, goodness, the Eagles’ finish on Oct. 9 was too close for comfort even for Flannery.

The Eagles boys collected their third consecutive 5A Colorado Springs Metro League title with 52 points, narrowly escaping Doherty, which scored 53 points for second place in Pueblo West. Fountain-Fort Carson placed third with 58 points.

“As the kids started coming across the line, I knew this was going to be tight,” Flannery said. “Going in, I knew it’d be between us, Doherty and Fountain-Fort Carson, and that turned out to be the case.”

The Eagles placed all five of their scorers in the top 20 with Joshua Pittman leading the way in sixth place at 17 minutes, 1.65 seconds.

Pittman’s time served as his second fastest of the season after he ran a personal-best 16:40.80 during the Desert Twilight on Sept. 27.

Jack Kwasny, the Eagles’ final scorer, finished 16th and clocked in at 17:58.82, which was five seconds faster than Rampart’s Mely Gonzalez Ramirez, who finished 17th at 18:03.

If one of Pine Creek’s top-five runners moved down one spot, it’s likely the Eagles would have missed out on their third consecutive title.

But the Eagles having all five scorers clock in under 18 benefitted the Pine Creek’s quest for a three-peat.

“I knew we had five runners in before anybody else and I was glad to see that,” Flannery said. “Jack did great but all five of our runners were close together. … The rising tide lifts ships. As guys continue to develop, they continue to lift their teammates up with them. They push each other in practice and bring each other to a higher level of training and performance. It’s cool when the synergy is like that.”

Most teams have two meets remaining this season; for the Eagles, they have regionals at Monument Valley Park on Oct. 24 and state at Norris Penrose Event Center on Nov. 5.

Flannery said he looks forward to tapering before the final races of the season and seeing how his team benefits from the rest.

“I like to have two weeks between our last meet and the regional meet,” Flannery said. “We can give them the training they need to make sure they’re as fit as possible, but also give them time to taper to make sure they’re rested up for regionals.”

Air Academy girls crush the field at home

Per Milesplit’s national rankings, the Air Academy Kadets entered the Kadet XC Invitational on Saturday ranked No. 4 in the nation.

And 5A’s defending champs showed their competition why no one can match their speed, scoring 29 points in their first-place finish.

Four Kadets placed in the top 10 including Tessa Walter, Jordan Banta, Chamorra Cooper and Mariah Hook. Walter finished first at the event with a time of 17:34.1, which was 20 seconds better than second place, Summit’s Ella Hagen at 17:54.3.

Air Academy’s 29 points was nearly three times less than Summit, which finished with 89 points.

The Kadets also placed three more competitors in the top 25, including Olivia Chura (13th), Madeline Pool (20th) and Isabella Haas (23rd.)

This is notable because even if Air Academy counted its seven runners as scorers rather than the typical top 5, the Kadets would have earned 72 points, which was 17 points better than Summit.

Other notable finishes

During Friday’s Tri-Peaks League/Black Forest League championship at Monument Valley Park, Thomas MacLaren swept the meet to earn BFL titles on the boys and girls’ side.

The Highlander girls won first with 14 points and placed four of its runners in the top 10. For the boys, they scored 22 points and had their top four scorers place in the top 10.

In the Tri-Peaks League race, the Banning Lewis boys earned the title, outdueling Salida 38-45 for first place. Jaxon Taylor clocked in at 16:43 to place first on the team and fourth overall.

For the Tri-Peaks League girls, Manitou Springs secured the trophy with 42 points and the Mustangs were led by Elisa Karr, who placed first who clocked in at 19:03.85. Banning Lewis’ girls earned second with 55 points and Alexia Gonzales finished second at 19:13.13.