Cross-country opens season in Delta heat

 First test for several runners

Titans cross-country got its first test of the season last weekend at the Delta Invite on Saturday, September 4.

Athletes were met with temperatures in the 90s and a long list of big school squads, making for a tough season opener. Nevertheless, a handful of Titan runners managed the heat and the competition well, to post solid results for their first race.
Senior captain Erin Kelly showed little sign of wear and tear over the course of her high school career, and opened the 2010 season picking up where she left off last year: dominating.
Kelly jumped out in front from the start and, despite going off course for 20 seconds, held a comfortable lead through the entire five-kilometer race to win in a time of 19 minutes, 12 seconds.
“She had an awesome gap on second and third place,” says coach Connie Hayden. “Considering the heat, she had an amazing race.”
Sophomore Abby Whiting had a tremendous showing in her first varsity race. Whiting showed promise all preseason, but questions remained as she lined up for her first race.
Whiting laid those initial questions to rest, running a faster time in her third mile than her second and posting a time of 23 minutes, 33 seconds to finish 30th out of 73 runners.
“She’s been running strong in practice and she finished really strong,” says Hayden. “She still had gas in the tank.”
Freshman Ian Boucher led the boys’ team, fighting off pre-race jitters in his first high school race to finish in 18th place with a time of 18 minutes, 59 seconds.
Freshman Danny D’Aquila followed suit, refusing to fall victim to the frantic pace, and held his own with a time of 19 minutes, 51 seconds to come in 38th.
“Considering the jitters on their very first varsity race, they handled themselves really well,” says Hayden. “They ran everything according to plan.”
As is often the case with the opening race, Hayden found out what the team needs to work on.
“Their results definitely gave us an indication that we need to work on strength and endurance,” says Hayden. “The base is intact; we just need to build on it for sure.”
The Titan runners head to Leadville on Saturday, September 11 for the Lake County Invite. Hayden looks for her team to step up to the high altitude course.
“We are looking to shine at this event,” says Hayden. “We do well on the hills and at altitude.”