FORT COLLINS — For Rocky Ford senior Victor Montoya, Saturday’s win in the Class 2A division of the state cross country meet was more than just a victory - it was a personal triumph.

A disagreement between his coach and his father after the spring’s state track meet escalated to the point where Montoya felt he needed to quit the team. And when the season started in August, coach Ron Shepherd said he had hoped Montoya - who was the runner-up in last year’s Class 3A race - would return to the team when he was ready.

Just after halfway through the season, Montoya came back to the squad and recorded league and regional victories. And when he was in a dead heat with Fountain Valley’s Steven Stoot in the final stretch of Saturday’s race at Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, Montoya dug deep to erase the drama that has surrounded him, finishing the 3.1-mile course in a winning time of 16:01.5 seconds.

Stoot finished second in 16:02.5, Center’s Joel Villagomez finished third (16:47.6) and Montoya’s teammate Santino Apodaca finished fourth (16:53.5.)

“My dad (Phillip Montoya) has been my trainer for as long as I can remember, and then they had a feud and I didn’t like being involved in it so I started the season late,” Montoya said. “But then I finally decided to do it for my dad. And I wanted to go back with my friends and come back and win it.”

Rocky Ford, which won the Class 3A title last season before the sport was divided in to four classifications, won a second straight championship by edging out Wiggins by one point. Rocky Ford scored 20, Wiggins scored 21, and Fountain Valley finished third with 53.

Stoot took charge of the race early with Montoya on his heels. The two broke away from the rest of the pack to be alone by the first mile and extended their lead even more by the second mile.

“I was planning to take the lead early on anyways,” said Stoot, who finished 17th in the Class 3A division last year. “You can sit, but if you get broken you’re in trouble though. But I was hoping I could just break him.”

And in the final stretch, Stoot said he could feel Montoya coming on strong and tried to hold him off.

“I just wanted to win, You race the whole way just pushing up front and its pretty hard to watch it slip away. All you can think about is the line and getting across it.

“I was happy with it, I was sapped at the end, I gave it my all and that’s about all I can ask for.”

And for Montoya, he said he knew before the race even started that there was a good chance he would have to use his kick in the end if he wanted to record his first cross-country state championship.

“I have a really good kick, and I knew I was going to use that today,” he said. “I was planning the whole time to get him at the end. He got away a little bit, but I caught back up to him. I felt good the whole way through.”