Photo by Daniel Mohrmann
There is no doubt that Henry Ilyasova has been fast. The Manitou Springs senior made it to the state cross-country meet for the third time over the weekend and for the second time, he was one of the 10 runners honored at the podium when his race was over.
For a moment, he looked disappointed. After all, he wanted to win.
But there isn’t a person on the planet who can take away his accomplishment of finishing third among all Class 3A boys. Ilyasova finished the race in 16 minutes, 24 seconds, just behind The Classical Academy’s Matthew Edwards and Eaton’s Logan Gullett.
With ambitions of coming away as Manitou’s first-ever boys cross-country champion, he was reminded that getting one shot at this run, at this course, is a task reserved for the most elite of high school runners.
“I wasn’t expecting (the difficulty), it just hit me hard today,” Ilyasova said. “I just didn’t have it.”
Not having it is a matter of perspective. Edwards distanced himself from the field early in the race and Gullett steadily pulled away from the pack.
After those two, a pack of six runners finished within 20 seconds of each other, with Ilyasova in the lead. He finished five spots better than he did a year ago, which is a major jump for any runner in his position.
And this season, he had the benefit of team support. The Mustangs brought an entire boys squad to the meet for the first time since 1996 and finished 11th in the team standings.
Despite the fact that Ilyasova and Kian O’Boyle will graduate next spring and depart the program, there is a strong feeling that a base has been formed that will allow the Mustangs to remain competitive in the sport.
“I hope people follow me, like Cody Kelley,” Ilyasova said. “I just hope people follow in my footsteps and hopefully get the win one day.”
Kelley finished 29th at 17:29.9, a little more than a minute behind Ilyasova.
O’Boyle was the third Manitou Springs runner to cross the finish line; his 18:21.1 put him in 53rd place.