Cross-country headed back to state championships

Seven Titans qualify for the big show

After a season of massive improvements each and every week, seven Crested Butte Titan runners are headed to their biggest test of the year.
All season long coaches Connie Hayden and Shari Sullivan-Marshall have been touting the personal improvements of each one of their runners, from the freshmen all the way up to the seniors.
Results were never the focus, just personal improvements.
It turns out, the work has paid off in spades as the Titans had a spectacular showing at the regional meet on Wednesday, October 17, with seven runners qualifying for the state championships this Saturday in Colorado Springs.
Runners were met with windy conditions at the regional meet in Delta but it didn’t seem to faze the Titans.
“I was worried about the wind but the kids didn’t seem to mind it at all,” says Hayden.
In fact, one Titan runner played the wind perfectly to push her way into the big show.
The girls’ race was fierce. With Hotchkiss and Paonia dropping from 3A to 2A this year and a couple of additional strong runners from Telluride, the field was stacked.
Nevertheless, senior Titan runner Amber Scott was right in the mix in Delta, just as she has been all season long.
Scott led the race for the first mile before a runner from Telluride made her move. While Scott let her go, she held on to her position the remaining 2.1 miles to finish in second place at regionals, covering the five-kilometer course in a time of 19:10.
Hayden admits it wasn’t Scott’s strongest effort of the season but Scott should be right back up in the lead pack again at state.
“The stars were not aligning for her that day,” says Hayden. “State should be interesting. It’s a toss-up who will go one-two-three.”
Freshman Tara Mortell opened the 2012 season a question mark but finished with an exclamation point, earning a spot at the state championships.
“She came into the season without any distance miles under her but from the very first practice Shari and I saw her potential,” says Hayden. “And right now her legs feel amazing and she’s poised and ready to peak.”
Not only that, she’s also smart and a great listener, which made all the difference at the regional race.
Two miles into the race, Mortell was in 17th place and the runners were about to hit a massive headwind. Hayden was sitting at the two-mile mark and whispered to Mortell her place and what she needed to do.
“I told her to catch the group ahead of her and draft off them through the headwind and then start picking them off one-by-one,” explains Hayden.
Mortell followed Hayden’s instructions to the letter and worked her way into 13th place with 400 meters to go, putting in one last kick to hold off a couple of runners behind her, posting a new personal best time. She’ll join Scott at the state finals.
“Tara left everything out there, which is exactly what you want them to do,” says Hayden.
Junior Harper Griffin and senior Sophia Deer posted their best times of the season at regionals as well, finishing in 22nd and 23rd, respectively, while junior Mina Moscatelli was right behind them in 24th place.
“Those three girls worked really well together,” says Hayden. “Sophia ended her senior season with a bang.”
Freshmen Ryan Carroll and Mara McLaughlin closed out the Titan girls effort placing 28th and 29th, respectively, as the team finished fourth out of nine teams, one spot shy of qualifying as a team
“It was a perfectly respectable finish in what I consider the toughest region in the state,” says Hayden.
Hayden summed up the boys’ regional showing in four words: “The boys rocked it.”
So much so that the team finished third, to qualify for the championships as a team.
Junior Forrest Smith had his best race of the season so far. Not only did he set a new personal record time of 16:34 to place fourth, he stayed with the heavy hitters in 2A the entire race and still had enough left for a strong kick at the end.
“Everything fell into place for him,” says Hayden.
Teammate junior Danny D’Aquila stomped the best time of his career as well at regionals. D’Aquila settled into 11th place and stayed there all race long, posting a time of 17:23 and reaching his pre-race goal of qualifying as an individual.
Junior Kyle Boyle put the finishing touches on the team’s results with some help from freshman Aiden Truettner. Boyle finished in 17th place to push the boys’ team into third place to make the cut. But he couldn’t have done it without Truettner.
Truettner put together another “stunning performance” and was hot on Boyle’s heels. In the spirit of healthy intersquad competition, Boyle refused to let his freshman teammate pass him, which prompted Boyle to make one final push for 17th place, with Truettner finishing in 18th.
“Kyle and Aiden worked together to move up,” says Hayden.
Truettner’s finish was another in a long list of surprises from him this season.
“I didn’t have any expectations for him to be up there,” says Hayden. “He’s just progressing by leaps and bounds.”
Sophomore Jack Duryea had an off day, coming in 29th place but will join the other four runners as a team at the state championships on Saturday, October 27.
“There’s definitely more in the tank for all of those guys,” says Hayden. “All of the kids feel really good and Shari and I feel really good about where they are. We just want them to run from the heart and go for it.”