Crested Butte cross-country charges through Junction heat

Titans fire off another round of personal records

Well, the much-anticipated showdown with the top-ranked 2A team, Telluride, never came to fruition last weekend.
The Titans headed to Grand Junction on Saturday, October 1 for the Anna Banana Tiger Invite. The race had big implications as it was going to be the first major “smackdown” between the top two 2A boys’ teams in the state, Crested Butte and Telluride.
Unfortunately, extenuating circumstances quashed all the pre-race fires as Telluride’s top two runners were out with the flu and the Titans were missing senior Matt Galley to a college visit and sophomore Danny D’Aquila to leg pain.
Still, it was the biggest field of racers the Titans had ever lined up against with a field of teams from larger 3A-5A programs.
“The competition was very stiff,” says head coach Connie Hayden.
A unique start and a sunny Western Slope day with no sign of a breeze added to the intensity. While the course was flat and fast, the start was tight and funneled into the standard course width almost immediately.
“People had to jockey for position right away,” explains Hayden. “It was intense. All of our runners had a good start.”
Sophomore Ian Boucher rolled with the scene. Despite missing a chance to battle his 2A rivals from Telluride, Boucher had no trouble maintaining his focus for the race.
“He was unfazed,” says Hayden. “He handled it with a lot of maturity.”
Boucher settled in on the shoulder of the leader in Grand Junction, waiting for the right moment to make his final move.
With 800 meters left to go, Boucher picked up his pace gradually, taking over the lead and then hitting another gear down the stretch to seal the win with another new personal and school record time of 16:05.
“I’ve never seen him kicking so hard at the end, he left it all out there,” says Hayden.
Sophomore Forrest Smith had a scorching first mile split and was settled somewhere between 20th and 25th place. Rather than fold under the pace, the heat or the scene, Smith maintained his stride, picking off runners over the next two miles to post a new personal record time of 17:15 and finish in 15th place.
“It was a blistering first mile for him and he handled it with no problem,” says Hayden.
While Boucher and Smith both had stellar races, perhaps the race of the day went to sophomore Kyle Boyle.
“He had a breakout performance, he was in heaven on the speedy course,” says Hayden. “He went all out.”
Boyle crushed his previous personal record time by 50 seconds and is running a full two minutes faster than last year.
“He’s running much faster and so comfortable,” says Hayden. “It’s neat to see the fitness take hold and applied.”
Hayden and the program bid adieu to senior David Bright as he closed out his high school cross-country career in Grand Junction. After a week of tapering, Bright came into the race well rested and fired off his best time of the season.
Junior Amber Scott shook off a mental mishap in her race the week before to put together one of her strongest efforts to date in Grand Junction.
Scott jumped into a chase pack of three runners and worked with them all five kilometers. At the two-mile mark Scott tripped up one of her competitors on a hairpin turn but stopped to help her up and the two pulled back into the race in the final mile.
Scott finished in fifth place with a personal record time of 19:35.
“She had an awesome performance,” says Hayden. “She was very much in control, focused and in her zone.”
Seniors Jessie D’Aquila, Natalie Barefield and Shelby Kopf spent the race together, crossing the finish line all within 15 seconds of each other.
“They’ve been training together and it’s definitely transferring into the race,” says Scott.
The emotional event of the day went to sophomore Harper Griffin running her first race since having her foot run over by a car and spending several months on crutches.
The team heads over the Elk Mountains Saturday, October 8 for the Chris Severy Invitational in Aspen.
“The course has killer hills and is back at elevation,” says Hayden. “We’re looking for a really good hill workout and perfecting our hill technique.”