Crested Butte Titans pick up pace at Montrose meet

A flurry of personal and school records set

Once again the Crested Butte Titans track team rose to the challenge, using the level of competition in Montrose on Friday, April 26 to bring their own game to a new level, posting a slew of personal and school records across the board.
The team’s accomplishments were especially impressive given the fact that the players were fresh off their April spring break just four days before the meet.
“It was out-of-this-world awesome,” says coach Laura Puckett. “Coming back from spring break you’re never sure what you’re going to have come back to you. It appears the training we did before break helped.”
Sprinters sophomore Kaleb Schultz and junior Rain Landry both used their competition from bigger programs to push their limits, as both Titans posted new personal records in the 100 meters.
Landry and Schultz then teamed up with junior Danny Prieto and senior Kane Hamilton-Young in an exciting 4×100-meter relay. When anchor runner Landry was handed the baton, he was 10 meters behind his closest competitor and closed the gap over the final 100 meters to beat him out with some finish-line heroics.
“He was leaning so hard he basically dove at the finish line,” explains Puckett. “He was blazing fast.”
The team’s effort also set a new school record and the Titans are now ranked sixth in the state among 2A programs.
Landry and Schultz struck again as part of the 4×200-meter team. This time freshman Shawnee Landry and junior Dakota Wiggins joined Schultz and Rain to post a new school record. That team is now ranked second in the state.
Junior Forrest Smith led the boys’ team in the distance events. Smith had yet to run in the two-mile all season but with a base intact from the Nordic season and several weeks of training in track, Smith came in second place and is on track to return to the state championships.
“He looked so strong,” says Puckett.
Sophomore Jack Duryea joined Smith in the two-mile and shaved 20 seconds off his previous personal record.
The Titans girls’ relay teams had similar success in Montrose. The 4×800-meter team—Shannon Costello, Elisabeth Desmarais, Amber Scott and Elizabeth Kilpatrick—posted its fastest time of the season by as much as 10 seconds.
Amber Scott lined up for the two-mile event in Montrose for the first time all season and punched her ticket to the state championships in another event.
Monika Olesen, Rosie Ewert, Tara Mortell and Suzanna Dumas teamed up to set a new school record in the 4×200-meter relay. It’s been years since the Titans had that element in the girls’ program but now it’s another weapon in the girls’ team arsenal.
“That’s always been a weak spot in our program and now it looks like they’ll qualify for state,” says Puckett.
Olesen, Ewert and Mortell then teamed up with junior Ali McGuire to set a new school record in the 4×100-meter relay. Mortell also set a new personal record in the 400 meters.
The Titans may have one more meet this weekend in Pagosa Springs and then start looking forward to the post-season, but plans are already in the works for late-season success among coaches and athletes.
“Right now we are looking to refine; we’re not yet at our taper,” says Puckett. “It’s all about polishing. We’ll switch to speed work with our distance runners and our relays are fixed, so we’re not going to play with that anymore.”