The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Girl’s team ranked second in state
Titans cross-country coach Emma Catmur let her team know: The race wasn’t going to be easy.
The Titans traveled to Aspen on Saturday, October 4 to compete in the Chris Severy Invitational. The course is brutal, with an uphill start infamous for breaking runners before they even get to hit their stride.
Fortunately, Catmur’s runners heeded her pre-race advice to remain calm on the opening hill to preserve energy for the remainder of the course, which includes several more climbs.
“The course never really backs off,” says Catmur.
With three of the Titans’ top five girl runners missing the Aspen race, sophomore Erin Kelly was left alone to battle against the field up-front.
Two runners built a gap early on Kelly, leaving her alone in third place with the remainder of the field far behind.
The early surge proved too much for Kelly to overcome, though, and with no one around to help push her faster, Kelly eased into a solid pace to remain in third place until the finish.
Junior Monica Konsella made the most of her Aspen experience. After holding back on the opening hill, Konsella found herself back in the middle of the pack until kicking into high gear to pick off opponents at will.
Konsella proceeded to work her way up all the way to ninth place by the finish, passing more than 30 runners in the process.
Senior Kelli Hargrove pushed her way into 48th place by the end, sophomore Madeline Malzhan piggy-backed on Hargrove to take 51st place, and freshman Jessie D’Aquila and sophomore Jenna D’Aquila took 54th and 62nd place, respectively.
“They all had really nice races,” says Catmur.
Junior Nicholas Harper Johnson continues to chip away at his regional competitors, taking 11th place with his sights set on the regional meet in two weeks.
“They take the top 15 to regionals so he should have a good shot at making it,” says Catmur.
Freshman David Bright is another rising star and Catmur continues to see him improve with each event, including the Aspen race.
“David had probably his best race of the year,” says Catmur.
The team will compete in the Montrose Relays on Saturday, October 11 and then take the next week to prepare for the regional race in Delta on Saturday, October 18.
