LITTLETON — With the top three individual favorites for next weekend’s Class 5A boys’ state cross country championship squaring off at Thursday’s Region 2 race, the event at Chatfield State Park’s Bonatic Gardens was more like a sneak preview.

A sneak preview without a surprise ending.

Dakota Ridge senior Evan Appel beat out Regis Jesuit senior Bobby Nicolls and Cherry Creek junior Walter Schafer for the regional title, putting him one step closer to defending the state crown he won last season. He completed the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 24.5 seconds.

“It’s great to have all these guys out there, and be able to kind of predict what the picture will be like for next week,” Appel said. “It’s sort of like a benchmark, knowing where everyone is at.”

Appel, Nicolls and Shafer stayed together through the first 2 miles before Appel and Nicolls broke away, and Appel didn’t make his final move until the final 800 meters. Nicolls finished second (15:45.9) in leading Regis Jesuit to a team title with 56 points and a spot in next Saturday’s state cross country championship event at Fossil Ridge High School. Cherry Creek (62), Dakota Ridge (64), Cherokee Trail (115) and Heritage (123) all qualified as a team for the state meet as well.

“This race took a lot of out me, I didn’t feel that great out there today,” Nicolls said. “Evan ran kind of scared today, and I let him get me. He didn’t really press the pace too much today. He got ahead of me there at the end, and he just had a lot more left at the end than I did. But hopefully I’ll make some adjustments for next week.”

But Nicolls said running in a difficult regional race will only give the top three runners an edge over everyone else.

“It’s good to know when you’re lining up at state, that you just came out of the hardest regional,” Nicolls said. “It was good to see where we are all at, and it’s not going to be easy next week.”

Appel’s Dakota Ridge teammate Natosha Rogers won her first regional title in the girls’ race with a time of 18:17.6, beating Cherry Creek’s Clare Gallagher, who finished second (18:50.8) but led the Bruins to the regional title with 39 points. Dakota Ridge (51), Heritage (11), Grandview (117) and Cherokee Trail (140) also qualified for next week’s state meet.

“I started moving a little bit away in the last mile,” said Rogers, who finished fourth at the 5A state meet last year. “She (Gallagher) went with me a little bit, she ran really well and she pushed me so much today.”

Dakota Ridge senior Kaitie Vanatta finished third with a time of 18:58.2, in only her second race this season. Vanatta, who won the Class 4A state title both her freshman and sophomore years while attending Ralston Valley, has struggled with serious injuries the past two seasons. She bounced back to finish second at state last year. Her only race before Thursday was her victory in the Dave Sanders Invitational on Sept. 26.

“I feel fine, I think our team is very strong and for me, I just have to do what I can,” Vanatta said. “I’ve gone through a lot, and I learned that you just have to take every race for what it is. And so I have to proud of how I did today.”

BOYS RESULTS

Team scores: Regis Jesuit 56, Cherry Creek 62, Dakota Ridge 64, Cherokee Trail 115, Heritage 123, Chatfield 184, Denver South 188, Overland 210, Standley Lake 266, Bear Creek 274, Grandview 282, Grand Junction Central 295.

Top individuals: 1, Evan Appel, Dakota Ridge 15:24.5; 2, Bobby Nicolls, Regis Jesuit, 15:45.9; 3, Walter Schafer, Cherry Creek, 15:48.7; 4, Roblet Muhudin, Overland, 15:57.7; 5, Danny Nicolls, Regis Jesuit, 16:25.7; 6, Austin Appel, Dakota Ridge, 16:34.9; 7, Alex Dillenbeck, Cherokee Trail, 16:40.8; 8, Garret Golesh, Regis Jesuit, 16:45.5; 9, Doug Brady, Cherry Creek, 16:50.4; 10, Brian King, Cherry Creek, 16:53.0.

GIRLS RESULTS

Team scores: Cherry Creek 39, Dakota Ridge 51, Heritage 111, Grandview 117, Cherokee Trail 140, Bear Creek 145, Chatfield 148, Standley Lake 187, Denver South 245, Grand Junction Central 286, Overland 357, Gateway 357.

Top individuals: 1, Natosha Rogers, Dakota Ridge, 18:17.6; 2, Clare Gallagher, Cherry Creek, 18:50.8; 3, Kaitie Vanatta, Dakota Ridge, 18:58.2; 4, Paige Lillo, Dakota Ridge, 19:25.1; 5, Jamie Anderson, Grandview, 19:37.1; 6, Kara Odum, Cherry Creek, 19:48.1; 7, Colleen Koenig, Cherry Creek, 19:59.6; 8, Lucy Brainerd, Heritage, 20:00.4; 9, Olivia Anderson, Cherry Creek, 20:00.8; 10, Lynn Egan, Cherry Creek, 20:16.1.