OREM — American Fork's boys and girls cross country teams proved they're the teams to beat this season in Region 4.
Led by senior and team captain Ben Felix, the boys literally ran away from their closest competitor, Timpanogos, outscoring the Timberwolves 33-72. The girls managed a two-point victory, 44-46, despite a one-two finish by Timpanogos.
"We knew we were really strong three through seven," said American Fork girls coach Bruno Hunziker. "This region is going to be tough all year, but I think today really gave our girls a lot of confidence."
American Fork's top runner finished fourth, but all five scorers came in before the Lady Timberwolves fourth runner.
The boys race wasn't exactly a nail-biter. With just under two miles to go, Cavemen Felix and Robby Lee broke away from a tight pack and didn't look back. Felix cruised to a 15:07 finish over the 2.9 mile course, followed closely by Lee in 15:15.
"It's Ben's chance to shine," said American Fork boys coach Timo Mostert. "We wanted to stay close and relaxed through the first mile and start pulling away when people started to slow down." And Felix did, extending his lead over the last mile and a half.
"We've been training pretty hard," Felix said. "Over the summer we did hills every Monday, speed Tuesdays and Thursdays — we're ready. We want to win state."
The Cavemen finished eighth last year at Sugarhouse Park but showed significant improvement throughout the 2007 track season, and are now poised to prove they belong at the top of 5A.
"It's an uphill battle for us with very little experience on our varsity," Mostert said, "but that's our goal every year."
The Cavemen will need to tighten up their pack by October. While only 40 seconds separated their first through fourth runners, the gap widened to 1:20 through five — an extra 40 seconds that could be 30 points in bigger meets.
Timpanogos junior Brooke Hodson won the girls race in just under 18 minutes, leading her team to a second-place finish.
"I didn't think I'd win it," Hodson said. "I just wanted to go with the pack as long as I could and hold on."
Similar to the boys race, Hodson broke away a little after the first mile.
"I really used to struggle at that point in the race," she said, "but we've been training every day since the first week of June. My teammates did great, and we all feel a lot stronger."
Region 4 will see how it stacks up Sept. 9 at the BYU Autumn Classic, which will feature top 4A and 5Ateams.