<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0yuliN_0viJ5jpw00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0yuliN_0viJ5jpw00" width="1569" height="1045" ><figcaption>Mead’s Ava Mierau runs the racecourse at the St. Vrain Invitational at Lyons High School on Sept. 21, 2024. (Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps)</figcaption></figure>“Delight” may be the last thing a runner thinks about when her lungs are burning and her muscles are going lactic, but Mead junior Ava Mierau has found just the right recipe of motivational and lively leadership to keep her younger teammates going.Along with the rest of the Mavericks, she has found some amusing ways to keep entertained at practices over the years.“Out in Mead, sad to say, there’s always garbage on the sides of the roads,” head coach Steve Parsons said. “The boys brought back a baby stroller that they found on the side of the road, and she and some of the girls were pushing each other down a hill in the baby stroller. I don’t know if she’s the one that started it, but that’s the type of fun she sort of brings to the team. It’s that kind of silly energy that kind of diffuses the anxiety before a race.”It’s become something of a pattern for Mierau, who leads the team with a personal record of 18 minutes, 32.20 seconds, which she set during her win at the notoriously fast Liberty Bell earlier this month. That time ranked her at fifth in all of Class 4A.She’s aiming even higher for later in the season, but not before she’s had a few more laughs.“We run out on the dirt roads and people tend to dump stuff out there, so we tend to bring back a lot of treasures. Each of our coaches have a fridge door in their room signed by everyone. It’s a lot of fun,” Mierau said. “It’s good to make sure we’re having fun. It’s not all about being a hundred percent all the time. It’s about making sure you want to be there and giving everyone someone to connect with.”The last time Mead girls cross country had a runner quite like Mierau, she nearly pierced the top 10 at the 4A state meet.That was two years ago, when Frances Hudson placed 13th on the big stage. She currently holds the Mead school record of 18:20. Parsons has little doubt that Mierau will not only break those two marks, but blow them out of the water.“At state — that’s sort of interesting, now that Niwot’s 5A — it kind of frees up a lot of space at the top,” he said. “For her individually, we’re thinking top 10 should be a given. I was just talking to her (on Saturday) morning. I said we should aim for top five, really, which would be our best finish for a girl ever at state.”During Saturday’s St. Vrain Invite on the hilly and grassy Lyons High School course, she placed 18th with a mark of 19:31.72 and believed the race served as a good litmus test for what she’ll see at the Norris Penrose Event Center come Nov. 2. After all, the St.. Vrain meet welcomed some of the best talent from multiple classifications.“It’s really good to place myself with those girls because I’m not always able to run against them,” Mierau said. “When I’m going to see these girls again at league and stuff, I’m going to know how they run and how I’m able to run against them. Everyone gets out really hard. I don’t normally run like that, but it’s really good to know where I need to place myself in relation to them in order to finish.”She has a little less than six weeks to put together all the perfect ingredients for that coveted podium finish.View a list of Prep sports and high school teams we cover.</div></body>

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Cross country: Mead’s Ava Mierau brings the fun to the run

“Delight” may be the last thing a runner thinks about when her lungs are burning and her muscles are going lactic, but Mead junior Ava Mierau has found just the right recipe of motivational and lively leadership to keep her younger teammates going. Along with the rest of the...