I believe Katie will be a volunteer assistant at Niwot. Niwot is the core HS of the Boulder-based REAL Training group. REAL has a strong youth presence throughout Boulder County, and as such, many talented rising freshmen who live in the area choose to go to Niwot HS.
Katie's mom is now the head XC coach at Coronado HS in Colorado Springs, which is 100 miles south of Boulder. Like the Boulder chapter of REAL, she is also the head of the largest youth running club in southern Colorado - Kokopelli. One can assume that many of the kids that run for her club will choose to attend Coronado.
It is highly likely that Coronado will be a player at the state scene as early as this year. They already had three talented 9th graders last spring - 9:50, 10:13, and 4:35 I believe. One is the son of former Olympic triathlete Andy Potts, another is the youngest brother of 8:37 steeplechaser Bailey Roth. There are some notable incoming freshmen from the Kokopelli club that many assume will be attending Coronado this fall as well - one that ran 4:31 as an 8th grader in nearby Fountain, and another - younger brother of Canon City's Nathan Pontious - that ran 4:40 in the same race. An early guess would have Coronado's boys looking no worse than 3rd in 4A this year as only Niwot and Cheyenne Mountain have comparable depth. Looking beyond 2022, though, it's hard to see Coronado not being successful on an even bigger stage.
Contrary to the #$#@ the OP is trying to conjure, though, Niwot is also extremely loaded with talented freshmen and sophomores as has been pointed out many times before. They are the clear favorite to win 4A this year and are well-positioned to continue a multi-year run of state championships and possibly more.
Of note - Cheyenne Mountain is also in Colorado Springs, and their coaches run the REAL Training down there. Their club is high schoolers only, though. IIRC back then Katie lived by Cheyenne Mountain, but chose to go to Air Academy instead, where her mom was a volunteer assistant and was also the club coach for some of the other Air Academy girls.
And before those haters chime in - remember, it is perfectly legal in Colorado for a HS coach to work with middle schoolers from all over, and it is also perfectly legal for incoming freshmen to go to any school they want as long as the school has capacity for them. Now, here's the fun part: coaches, parents, etc are not allowed to tell or suggest or influence the decisions kids make, but really...it's not necessary. By virtue of coaching a middle school club, it can serve as a feeder of sorts.
The 2021 National runners-up, Cheyenne Mtn, was a pretty strong group when they were freshmen in the spring of 2019. Interesting to compare them to Niwot and Coronado's spring of 2022 8th/9th graders.
Cheyenne Mtn 8th* and 9th graders in 2019
4:21, 4:43, 4:47, 4:48, 4:57, 4:58* - top 5 average around 4:42.
Niwot 8th* and 9th graders in 2022
4:32*, 4:36, 4:36, 4:45, 4:45, 4:47, 4:53, 4:54, 4:56, 4:57 - top 5 average around 4:39
Coronado 8th* and 9th graders in 2022
4:33*, 4:36, 4:39, 4:40*, 4:47 - top 5 average around 4:39.
Both of these teams are quite a bit faster than Cheyenne Mtn was at this point in their progression.
Katie's mom is now the head XC coach at Coronado HS in Colorado Springs, which is 100 miles south of Boulder. Like the Boulder chapter of REAL, she is also the head of the largest youth running club in southern Colorado - Kokopelli. One can assume that many of the kids that run for her club will choose to attend Coronado.
It is highly likely that Coronado will be a player at the state scene as early as this year. They already had three talented 9th graders last spring - 9:50, 10:13, and 4:35 I believe. One is the son of former Olympic triathlete Andy Potts, another is the youngest brother of 8:37 steeplechaser Bailey Roth. There are some notable incoming freshmen from the Kokopelli club that many assume will be attending Coronado this fall as well - one that ran 4:31 as an 8th grader in nearby Fountain, and another - younger brother of Canon City's Nathan Pontious - that ran 4:40 in the same race. An early guess would have Coronado's boys looking no worse than 3rd in 4A this year as only Niwot and Cheyenne Mountain have comparable depth. Looking beyond 2022, though, it's hard to see Coronado not being successful on an even bigger stage.
Briley Roth ran a 15:55 5k at Liberty bell but no results have been found since then
Katie's mom is now the head XC coach at Coronado HS in Colorado Springs, which is 100 miles south of Boulder. Like the Boulder chapter of REAL, she is also the head of the largest youth running club in southern Colorado - Kokopelli. One can assume that many of the kids that run for her club will choose to attend Coronado.
It is highly likely that Coronado will be a player at the state scene as early as this year. They already had three talented 9th graders last spring - 9:50, 10:13, and 4:35 I believe. One is the son of former Olympic triathlete Andy Potts, another is the youngest brother of 8:37 steeplechaser Bailey Roth. There are some notable incoming freshmen from the Kokopelli club that many assume will be attending Coronado this fall as well - one that ran 4:31 as an 8th grader in nearby Fountain, and another - younger brother of Canon City's Nathan Pontious - that ran 4:40 in the same race. An early guess would have Coronado's boys looking no worse than 3rd in 4A this year as only Niwot and Cheyenne Mountain have comparable depth. Looking beyond 2022, though, it's hard to see Coronado not being successful on an even bigger stage.
Briley Roth ran a 15:55 5k at Liberty bell but no results have been found since then
Any incoming stud freshmen joining Coronado next year?
Any incoming stud freshmen joining Coronado next year?
Oliver Horton - 4:31 mile
Coronado top 7 season bests (5k) Horton - 15:10 - 9 Campos - 15:21 - 10 Potts - 15:50 - 11 Slater - 16:20 - 11 Oliver - 16:25 - 9 Davidson - 16:36 - 11 Steiner-Smith - 16:39 - 12 As you can see here, 6 of these guys are coming back next year. And this doesn’t include Roth, who moved out of the Coronado area according to another thread. They also have another freshman with a 17:01 PR. so 3 solid freshmen on the team
Coronado top 7 season bests (5k) Horton - 15:10 - 9 Campos - 15:21 - 10 Potts - 15:50 - 11 Slater - 16:20 - 11 Oliver - 16:25 - 9 Davidson - 16:36 - 11 Steiner-Smith - 16:39 - 12 As you can see here, 6 of these guys are coming back next year. And this doesn’t include Roth, who moved out of the Coronado area according to another thread. They also have another freshman with a 17:01 PR. so 3 solid freshmen on the team
The Oliver with a SB of 16:25 is not Oliver Horton. It’s Braxton Oliver.