Titan track gaining speed with each race

Making strides

The young Crested Butte Titans track team got a taste of how they match up against their true peers in a freshman/sophomore track meet in Gunnison last Wednesday and then closed the week against some of the top programs from the Western Slope last Friday in Montrose.
The Gunnison meet was a shot in the arm for the Titan team as several runners stepped up to the top of the podium including wins in the boys’ and girls’ 4×800-meter relay and the boys’ 4×400-meter relay.
“They did really well,” says coach Laura Puckett. “We’ve got a young team so it was a good experience for them. We have impressive freshman and sophomore classes.”
Two days later, they met a different beast at the Montrose Invitational.
“The competition was steep,” says Puckett.
While placing top three may have eluded the Titans in Montrose, they continue to improve with another flurry of personal record (PR) times posted in Montrose.
“Individually our kids ran really well,” says Puckett. “They’re running really fast at this point in the season.”
Case in point, the girls’ 4×100-meter and 4×800-meter relay teams.
Freshman Rosie Ewert, junior Toni Brown, senior Karleigh Dean and freshman Monika Oleson teamed up to post their fastest time of the season in 4×100 and place ninth. Their time was just .8 seconds shy of the Crested Butte school record and Puckett expects to see their names on the Titans track wall of records at school by the end of the season.
“We’re looking to set a new school record in the next two weeks,” says Puckett.
The 4×800-meter team then got a boost from junior Jessie D’Aquila to post their fastest time of the season and place sixth in Montrose.
“They ran their fastest time by a lot,” says Puckett. “Jessie became that fourth key member to make that relay really strong.”
Freshman Shannon Costello dug deep to post successive strong finishes in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter (mile) events. After placing 12th in the 800 meters, Costello charged to a fourth place finish in the mile with a time of 5:48.65.
Junior Shelby Kopf joined in on the personal record setting day in her events, the mile and two-mile runs, peaking with a time of 14:09.63 to place 10th in the two-mile.
Freshman Ian Boucher had another stellar showing in the mile setting another PR in Montrose placing eighth with a time of 4:52.04.
“He continues to be an impressive miler,” says Puckett. “His unique blend of strength and speed is highlighted in the mile.”
Meanwhile, while Boucher did not race the two-mile event in Montrose, he has a state qualifying time from earlier in the season and he looks to solidify his spot before the end of the regular season.
“We’re going to work on that this coming weekend,” says Puckett.
Freshman Kyle Boyle joined Boucher in the PR realm with another solid long jump in Montrose, in fact so strong that he and Puckett have set a goal for the season.
“He has his sights set on the school record,” says Puckett.
The team heads to Grand Junction Friday and Saturday, May 6-7 for the Tiger Invite and then close the regular season with the Southern Peaks league meet on Saturday, May 14.
“We’re really excited about where everybody is at and where we’re going,” says Puckett. “Our sights are set on the league title for the girls.”