Titans track match up against league competition in Center

Boys and girls teams finish second overall

After spending the past three weekends competing against larger programs, the Titans track team headed to Center last weekend to see how they match up against their league opponents.
It appears the girls are on track for a repeat league title and the boys are knocking on the door, as they each finished second place in the team standings with almost everyone stepping onto the podium in a variety of events.
“I was hoping the girls team would win but I had no idea the boys would do so well,” says coach Laura Puckett. “Our goal is to win both the boys and girls league titles.”
While the Titans have always been known for their prowess in distance events, Puckett made a concerted effort over the past three years to build up their sprints as well and it appears to be paying off.
Both sophomore Monika Olesen and freshman Kaleb Schultz posted stellar results in their sprint events, setting new personal records and flirting with setting new school records.
Olesen placed fourth in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash and Schultz finished fifth in the 100 and fourth in the 200.
“At this point our sprint program is as strong as our distance program state wide,” says Puckett.
Senior co-captain Skylar Kraatz and sophomore Shannon Costello carried the momentum through the middle distance events for the girls team. After Kraatz placed fifth in the 200-meters she toed the line in her specialty, the 400-meter dash, and ran to a second-place finish. Costello placed sixth in the 800-meters and then joined forces with junior Amber Scott to dominate the mile. Scott dusted the field for the win, with Costello 12 seconds behind her in second place.
Scott continued her onslaught winning the two-mile race as well and then joined Costello, freshman Miki Olesen and junior Elisabeth Desmarais to place second in the 4×800-meter relay with their best time of the season by a full 20 seconds.
Desmarais wasn’t done, as she stepped into the discus to post a new school record and place 14th.
As results were coming in, the Titan girls team was flirting with the overall win but were edged out by two seconds in the 4×400 relay finishing the day in second place by two points overall.
Puckett believes a big reason for the boys team’s success was the foray of a handful of athletes in the field events.
“The addition of Liam Mortell in shot put, Kyle [Boyle] in the long jump and Michael [Ryan] in the high jump really rounded out our team,” says Puckett.
In addition to Schultz’ success in the 100-meter and 200-meter events, sophomore Kyle Boyle had another breakthrough in the 400-meters, winning with a new personal record time.
Senior co-captain Matt Galley proved unbeatable in both the 800-meter and the mile, winning both races with sophomore teammate Forrest Smith joining Galley on the podium in both races.
The boys 4×400-meter relay team posted a second-place finish to add key points to the team total as well.
“Our kids were definitely stronger this week than last week in Hotchkiss,” says Puckett.
According to results from around the state, most of the Titans, both boys and girls, are ranked in the top 18 in 2A in their events, a key cutoff for the postseason.
“It’s still early but top 18 qualifies them for state,” says Puckett. “We’ll see what happens but I’m very optimistic.”
Unfortunately, just as the team is gaining momentum, they’re hitting spring break, which can put a hitch in the Titans’ step. Puckett believes that after four years of coaching though, the team has bought into her request to continue training and return to action prepared.
“Spring break is hard but the kids seem more on board this year,” says Puckett. “They know that if they don’t work out over the break, they’ll take five steps backwards.”
The team will have their next meet, and their only meet in the valley, on Saturday, April 21 when they head down to Gunnison.