The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Breaks up the sweep
Cross-country head coach Connie Hayden knew who her team was running against as they prepared for the Salida Invitational on Saturday, September 24.
“Both the girls and boys were up against the top 3A program in the state, Classical Academy,” says Hayden. “Last year in Salida both the boys and girls took eight of the top 10 spots.”
Hayden made a point of not telling her team about Classical and kept one goal to herself.
“My secret goal was to crack their varsity,” says Hayden.
Instead, Hayden set some goals for the individual runners for them to focus on in Salida.
“Because the course was so flat, a lot of the focus was on keeping an even pace and running a stronger second mile,” explains Hayden. “We really wanted them to work on their second miles.”
The Titans heeded Hayden’s call to action as seven of them set new personal record times on a course that, while flat, had its challenges with numerous twists and turns as well as the occasional hurdle over irrigation ditches.
“It was more of a ‘trail’ course than a wide-open passing course,” explains Hayden.
Sophomore Ian Boucher was one of those seven and is officially on fire this season. Boucher set a new personal record, broke his own school record and won the race with a time of 16:44.
Boucher and senior Matt Galley led a small group of runners for most of the race, working together the entire course. But with 800 meters left, Boucher did what he always does and shifted into his final gear to pull away for the win posting a time of 5:07 in the final mile of the race.
Galley battled with the top Classical Academy runner for second place until the final 20 meters and finished in third place with a time of 16:58.
Sophomore Forrest Smith charged through most of the course before falling victim to a “stitch,” eventually taking 15th place. Nonetheless, Smith’s pace for most of the race was fast enough to set a new personal record time of 18:02.
Sophomore Danny D’Aquila rounded out the Titans’ scoring in Salida, posting a personal record time of 18:50 to finish 26th as the boys’ team ended up in second place overall.
While the girls’ team continues to struggle with injuries and other issues, they continue to improve as the season wears on.
“The girls are all making steady progress,” says Hayden.
Their top runner, junior Amber Scott, was in the thick of it in Salida, surrounded by Classical Academy athletes the entire five kilometers.
Scott lost focus of the initial game plan but relied on pure talent to hang with the top 3A girls in the state and take sixth place with her own new personal record time of 20:05.
“I was proud of her for breaking up the Classical Academy varsity,” says Hayden.
Seniors Natalie Barefield and Jessie D’Aquila set new personal records and sophomore Mara McLaughlin had a “stunning” performance with her own personal record time as well.
Unfortunately, there is some bad news for the girls’ team, as they lost sophomore Mina Moscatelli for the season with a stress fracture.
The Titans are off to Grand Junction this weekend for the Anna Banana Invitational on Saturday, October 1. It will be a showdown between 2A boys’ team powerhouses, Crested Butte and Telluride. Currently, Telluride is the number-one-ranked 2A team in the state and Crested Butte is ranked second.
“It’ll be interesting,” says Hayden. “It’s notoriously one of the speediest courses in the state. The kids are all ready to rip it.”
