Titans high school track peaking as state competition draws near

Five school records set over weekend

The track season is coming down the wire for the Titans with the Southern Peaks league championships on Friday, May 11 and the state championships May 17-19.
Fortunately, it appears the team is on track to peak at just the right time given the recent spate of personal and school records they set this past weekend.
The team headed to two different meets with distance runners Matt Galley, Amber Scott and Forrest Smith at the Tiger Invite in Grand Junction and the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers at a meet in Cedaredge.
Smith had a rough start to the weekend on Friday night in the two-mile, finishing in 16th place but rebounding the following day to lay down a personal record time of 4:51.70 in the mile.
“It wasn’t as smooth a two-mile as I’ve seen him run but he came back and ran a great race the next day and I think that showed his maturity,” says head coach Laura Puckett.
Scott ticked off three great races in a row. Scott placed third in the two-mile with a time of 12:05.56, ran her fastest mile of the season to take eighth and set a new personal record time in the 800 meters to finish in seventh.
Galley stepped up his game another notch with a strong 800-meter race and a stellar mile. Galley shaved 19 seconds off his previous fastest time this year in the mile to run a 4:31.4 and finish in fourth place among a legion of runners from bigger programs.
“Matt’s mile was the most impressive race of the weekend,” says Puckett. “He ran the second fastest mile in the state this year for 2A schools and is five seconds off first place, which is in shooting range.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the Titans team was shattering school records at Cedaredge. They came out in the opening event, the 800 medley relay, on fire as both the boys and girls relay teams set new school records to place fourth and third respectively.
“You could tell it was there and we were going to have a good day all around,” says coach Chelsea Murray.
Kyle Boyle followed suit in the 400 meters running a 52.88 to set a new school record that had been in place for 13 years.
“He’s been gunning for that all season,” says Murray.
Skylar Kraatz set a new personal record in the 400 meters and joined Miki Olesen, Lindsey Kopf and Elisabeth Desmarais to place fifth in the 4×400 meter relay.
“We have a solid 4×400 team and to have depth in that area really helps,” says Murray.
Kopf and Olesen had breakout performances in new events in Cedaredge. Olesen ran her first open 400-meter race and took eighth place and Kopf ran her first open 200-meter race and placed fifth.
In addition Sara Sherman set a new school record in the shot put while Desmarais did the same in the discus.
With the foundation, fitness and speed in place for both the boys and girls teams, they now have some fine-tuning to do as they prepare for the league meet on Friday, May 11 in Center.
“Right now we’ll tweak what they have and optimize their abilities,” says Murray.
The girls head into Center with a target on their back as the defending league champions but the coaches believe they have it in them to repeat.
“We’re definitely looking for a girls title,” says Puckett.
“For the girls to come back and win that again would be great,” adds Murray.
They also believe that the boy’s team has a shot at cracking top three at the league championships.
Once the results are in from around the state this weekend, the state meet qualifiers will be announced. As it stands right now, 16 Titans should make it to the big show with a couple more on the cusp.