On March 28 at the Niwot Invitational, the Thompson Valley quintet of Trent Gabrielson, Isaac Vasquez, Antheney Herre, Grant Pierson and Levi Smela took part in what has been considered one of the greatest 3,200-meter races in Colorado track history.
Against 93 other runners over three heats, the five Eagles all crossed the finish line in the top 23 with two of them running under their school record. The top four runners in the race went under 9 minutes.
Gabrielson and Vasquez were the top Thompson Valley runners, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. Their times of 9:13.83 and 9:15.95 are now the top two times in program history. Herre, Pierson and Smela all run under 9:30.
The race was a mid-season showdown of some of the best in the state, and the Eagles, as they consistently have for the past several years, showed they belong among Colorado’s elite.
“It was incredible,” Vasquez said of just being part of the race. “That was the deepest field Colorado’s ever seen, and to be in the top 15 was really special. To work with my guys, too, that was everything to me.”
Last weekend at the Altitude Invite in Fort Collins, Herre had his moment to shine as he won the 1,600 meters in a meet-record time of 4:12.35. He passed last year’s 5A state champion, Ben Lee of ThunderRidge, in the last 100.
Smela was fourth and Pierson was fifth, but the win was a special one for the junior Herre — who goes to Loveland Classical but runs track for Thompson Valley because his school doesn’t have a track team.
“That was just a huge breakout for me,” Herre said. “Beating Ben Lee was a pretty big bucket list item. Something that coach (Kris) Christensen always tells me is don’t be afraid of anybody. Every time I step on the track I think to myself, ‘I’m going to win this race no matter what,’ and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, but going in with that mentality has always helped my whole running career.”
In the Class 4A rankings so far this season, the five Thompson Valley runners can be found amongst the leaders in all three distance races.
Going into this weekend, which includes the prestigious Pomona Invitational at Jeffco Stadium that the Eagles will not be running at, Smela, Vasquez and Gabrielson are ranked fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 800. Herre is 17th and Pierson is 33rd.
In the 1,600, Herre is ranked fourth while Vasquez, Gabrielson, Smela and Pierson are ranked 11th-14th respectively. In the 3,200, Gabrielson is ranked ninth, Vasquez 10th, Herre 13th, Pierson 16th and Smela 17th.
The Eagles have the state’s second-fastest time this season in the 4×800 relay, an event they finished second in at last year’s state meet. The foursome of Smela, Herre, Vasquez and Gabrielson ran a 7:55.79 at the Roosevelt Power Meet Invitational on March 27. Their time is seven seconds behind the state leader, Niwot.
“The season has been going really well for us,” Smela said. “We definitely came out strong. We’ve got a really strong program all the way down, so we’ve been enjoying training together, racing together, all that kind of stuff and it’s been going well. We are competitive. We’re racing for wins at meets and we’re going to look really good at state this year.”
With the exception of Herre, who ran for Classical, the Eagles distance runners have been dominant since the fall when they finished third at the state cross country meet in Class 4A. It was the third year in a row Thompson Valley finished in the top three at state. They won the state title in 2024.
The success they have had in the fall has consistently translated to success in the spring. This year, the Eagles are using their third-place finish in Colorado Springs in November as motivation during the outdoor track season.
“After cross, we weren’t very happy with it,” Gabrielson said. “But it definitely just made us all run more over the winter for this. And now, it’s working, all the work over the winter.”
The quintet has been running together for four to six years and have been able to form a bond on and off the track.
They believe their closeness is another contributing factor to their success.
“We’re close for sure,” Pierson said. “Everything we do, we do it together. If one person has a bad race, you’re picked up right away. You’re not left out of anything, and you can develop your full training with them and just go through the ups and downs together.”
Thompson Valley tied for third with Cheyenne Mountain at last year’s state track meet with 56 points, five behind second-place Roosevelt. Niwot ran away with the team title with 98 points.
The Eagles got 42 points from their distance runners and their 4×400 and 4×800 relays. They are optimistic they can put up even more points next month at Jeffco Stadium and possibly close the gap between them and Niwot.
“I think we have a great shot to do really big things this year,” Smela said. “I think that we’re going to go out there and compete like we’re going to win the race like we always do. So, no matter what we do out there, I think we’re going to be competing for wins and we’re going to be super competitive with that.”
