The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Five Titans headed to state race
Sophomore Erin Kelly and senior Maddison Garcia led the Titans’ cross-country assault on their regional competitors, placing first and second respectively at the regional meet in Delta on Saturday, October 18.
In the end, four of the five Titan girls placed in the top 10 for the overall regional team title and all five will travel to Ft. Collins on Saturday, October 25 to compete in the state meet.
“It was definitely a good day for us,” says coach Emma Catmur. “Our girls went out strong.”
Kelly scorched the five-kilometer course in a time of 19:07, outpacing the field by more than 40 seconds.
“It was her fastest time of the season,” says Catmur. “She looked stronger in the second half of the race than the first half. It was good for her to get a feel for that pace before state.”
The other four Titan runners followed suit with each one posting their fastest time of the season so far.
Garcia found herself in a battle for second place with Crested Butte’s competition, Mancos, putting in a push for the overall team title.
Garcia held off the top runner from Mancos to secure second place by six seconds with a time of 19:47.
Junior Monica Kinsella maintained her strategy, holding strong until the final mile when she typically makes one last move.
Kinsella passed a handful of runners down the stretch to push into sixth place overall with a time of 20:43.
Senior Emma Vosburg carried her pace throughout the race, holding close to Kinsella to finish in eighth place in a time of 20:59.
“They were close together the whole race, which is good to see,” says Catmur.
Sophomore Hannah Smith continues her recovery from a mid-season injury to climb back into state contention with a 13th-place finish in a time of 22:49.
“She’s still a strong fifth runner for us,” says Catmur.
Sophomore Jeffery Hargrove and freshman David Bright represented the boy’s team for the Titans at regionals. While both runners had their strongest races of the season, they just missed the cutoff for a state bid as Hargrove took 16th place and Bright finished 17th.
“Jeffery ran a PR [personal record] by 40 seconds and David improved on his best time by two minutes,” says Catmur. “I couldn’t have asked them to run any faster. It was a great way for those guys to finish their season.”
Catmur and girls now prepare for the state meet with aspirations for a couple of top-five individual results and a shot at a team state title.
“It’s hard to tell, but I definitely think there’s a chance,” says Catmur.
According to the state scoring procedure for the 2A race, all five girls run but only the top three results count toward the team title.
“It makes it a much tighter race but I think they can do it,” says Catmur. “What’s exciting for us this year is that while every girl wants to do well individually, they also want to do well for the team.”
