LAKEWOOD — Fort Collins distance coach Chris Suppes knew his freshman phenom, Lauren Gregory, was in perfect position in the Class 5A 3,200-meter final on Thursday at Jeffco Stadium.
“Our gameplan fell right into place,” Suppes said of Gregory’s race. “You always come up with a strategy and then you have all these alternate strategies just in case. For some reason, that two mile just fell right into her lap. The strategy was perfect, to hang with the front pack.”
“That was more the strategy,” Gregory added. “I haven’t run strategy since cross-country really. It was nice to not have to think about how many more laps I had or how much pain I was in. I just thought about what I had to do next. I felt so strong the whole time.”
Fort Collins’ Lauren Gregory. (Brock Laue)
Gregory’s strength brought her a state title in the 3,200 meters in arguably the best girls two-mile field in Colorado history with an impressive time of 10:39. She was merely five seconds off of legendary Boulder High runner Melody Fairchild’s state meet record of 10:34 set in 1990. Gregory’s 10:39 was also the new Fort Collins school record, a feat at a school with as much distance running tradition as any in the state.
Gregory, George Washington’s Darby Gilfillan and Fairview’s Isabelle Kennedy — all tremendous talents who had run sub 11 minutes in the 3,200 meters before — broke from the field during the first 1,600 on Thursday. They controlled the pace, a quick 10:20 3,200 clip early, and vied for the 5A crown.
Gregory moved to lane two at the start of the sixth lap, opened up her stride, and made a commanding move to leave her fellow leaders.
“I told her she couldn’t lead it until the sixth lap and then finish hard the last three and that’s what she did,” Suppes said.
The move was strong, the lead was twenty meters and growing, and Gregory could almost taste her first state championship in track.
“I kind of knew she had it about lap five, because she was very comfortable through the first five laps,” Suppes said of Gregory’s victory. “Even though the pace was fast, I know what she’s capable of and I was pretty confident at that point that she was going to win it.”
Gilfillan finished second in 10:46, Kennedy crossed at 10:47, and Horizon’s Megan Mooney (10:57) and Monarch’s Kaitlyn Benner (10:58) all broke 11.
Fort Collins’ freshman superstar had an outstanding Thursday morning at the state meet, but her day was far from finished.
The Lambkins were seeded second in the 3,200 relay with a time of 9:15 and were expected to battle Front Range Conference rivals Fairview, seeded No. 1 (9:14), and Monarch, seeded No. 3 (9:16). Fort Collins and Monarch girls both placed top-10 at the Nike National Cross-Country Team Championships this past fall and had several of the same girls on their 3,200 relays.
Fort Collins turned an ultra-competitive relay into a laugher. Monarch and the Lambkins ran away from the field early, but Fort Collins’ third leg ran away from Monarch. Gregory got the anchor baton clear of the Coyotes by 75 meters and never looked back as she cruised to another convincing state championship in a time of 9:06. Monarch was second in 9:13, Fairview finished third in 9:19. Gregory led the Lambkins to a second school record a few hours after a great 3200.
“We chose to lead off Devynn (Miller) just because we thought she had the potential to drop a 2:15,” Suppes said. “She did and we knew that if we could lead off with a 2:15 and throw in a couple 2:17s, we could give Gregory the type of lead that would help her.
“I didn’t expect it to be that big honestly,” he added. “She’s capable of running a 2:12 in the open. I knew she probably wouldn’t be able to run that fast coming off the two mile, so we knew we had to give her a lead, but we didn’t think the lead would be that good.”
Gregory, who also claimed the 5A crown in cross-country this past fall, has been known as an exceptional talent for years.
“I think anybody who knows her kind of expected this in a way,” Suppes said. “She’s been an amazing runner at the national level since she was a little kid. For her to come out and challenge 5A the way she is, it’s not a huge surprise to me or anyone whose been coaching distance in this area.
“I’ve always wanted to have a girl that, as a freshman, just comes out and destroys things.”
Gregory hopes to add to her already mighty credentials in the 800-meter run on Friday and 1,600-meter Run on Saturday. Just as importantly to the freshman, she wants to score more points for her team, the state title favorites.
“Right now, it’s just placing, because I want our team to win so bad,” Gregory said of her gameplan for the rest of the weekend. “I’m just trying to place as high as humanly possible.”
“The coolest thing about her is she’s all about the team,” Suppes said of her star.
Whether in individual races, relays, or team pursuits, Lauren Gregory is certainly a phenomenal talent.