Leeonna Fambro is a sprinter, but she won a high school cross country race in her first time racing a 5k.

Fambro, a freshman at Banning Lewis Preparatory Academy, won the small schools varsity race at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede on Saturday, clocking a 19:46.10, 44 seconds ahead of Peak to Peak Charter School’s Skye Williams in second.

“I was really surprised,” this week’s Gazette Preps Peak Performer said. “I kept my head forward and was just worried about finishing at the end. I wasn’t worried about anyone else around me, just how I performed.”

Fambro, 14, started sprinting at a young age and competed on the Banning Lewis middle school track team where she set a personal record in the 100 meters (13.73) this past spring. She joined cross country in middle school to help build strength and endurance on the track.

The farthest Fambro competed in middle school was two miles at the Colorado Middle School State Cross Country Championship, where she placed 19th.

However, Fambro felt prepared for the increase in race distance from her mix of sprinting and endurance training over the summer with her dad, a former collegiate track athlete. When she wasn’t sprinting in summer track meets, she was going on runs to build stamina.

Therefore, Fambro felt comfortable taking the lead at Norris Penrose Event Center despite her coach, Gary Kurtz, advising otherwise. A mile in, she had created a significant gap from the field.

“Analyzing a lot of her strengths throughout her middle school season and workouts I knew it would be a good race, but I didn’t know it was going to be as dominant as it was,” Kurtz said. “She went out there, did her own thing, listened to her body. Having only spent a little time with her that taught me about her mindset and willingness to trust herself and get it done.”

It was her positive mindset that pushed Fambro to the finish line.

“If you give yourself confidence and keep pushing yourself, that could encourage you even more,” the freshman said. “Having a good mindset can determine your race.”

Fambro is excited about her performance, but is focused on not getting ahead of herself. For now, she wants to get comfortable with racing cross country, and have fun with it. Most of all, she looks forward to getting faster.

The cross country team at Banning Lewis is growing every year, particularly on the girls side. Kurtz is excited about the future of the program, and sees Fambro as having a big role in it.

“That race lays the foundation and there is so much more to come,” Kurtz said. “We are super happy to have her on the team. If you can run those times now, man the future is so bright once we get to championship time. It’s going to be a great season.”