Cross country battles peers in Colorado Springs

Set up for success

Well, the Titans boys cross country team now knows where it stands in the state among their 2A peers—almost at the top.
The Titans headed to Colorado Springs to compete in the Fountain Valley Invitational, a showcase for the top 2A teams in the state.
Heading in, coach Connie Hayden knew who the team to beat was—Vanguard Charter. Vanguard Charter has spent the past several years building itself into a powerhouse, and the race in Colorado Springs provided the Titans their first opportunity to line up against Vanguard this season and gain a little insight into how to take them down.
“I know they like to run as a group so it depends on where our boys fall on either side of the clump,” says Hayden. “We anticipated that it was going to be really tight.”
While the course was twisty and turny, slowing down the field as a whole, several Titans relished the challenge posting a slew of personal record times.
The boys’ team kicked things off Friday and was amped up as five of the seven boys posted personal record mile splits off the start line.
“They went out blazing fast, which was crazy,” says Hayden.
Hayden and coach Shari Sullivan Marshall laid out a plan for senior Forrest Smith for this race. After keeping him with the lead pack in previous races, the coaches told Smith to get out in front and see how it felt running alone.
“We thought it would be good training for him mentally to run up-front by himself,” explains Hayden.
Smith punched it off the line but a fellow competitor matched Smith’s initial kick. But by the time the field turned into the final stretch, Smith proved that at this moment, he is the top 2A boys runner in the state. He ran a time of 16 minutes, 37 seconds—one second off the course record—to take the individual title at Fountain Valley.
“He’s got the ‘finishing strong’ thing down, which is great,” says Hayden.
Sophomore Aiden Truettner posted a personal record time of 17:49 to finish in sixth place among a gaggle of Vanguard runners, earning key team points.
“He went out faster than normal and it totally paid off,” says Hayden.
Senior Kyle Boyle ran his fastest five kilometers of the season to place 11th and senior Danny D’Aquila was right on Boyle’s heels in 12th.
“Kyle had a really strong race and is slowing creeping back into the mix,” says Hayden.
The points were tallied and, in the end, the Titans came in one point shy of Vanguard Charter, finishing in second place in the team standings.
“I’d say the boys are hitting their groove and poised for an awesome final few weeks of the season,” says Hayden.
The girls team got off to a dubious start with senior Shannon Costello rolling her ankle during warm ups, forcing her out of the race.
Sophomore Sam Crossett carried the Titans’ torch at Fountain Valley. Crossett has been sick the past two weeks but turned the corner leading up to the race and posted a personal record time of 22:35 to place sixth.
“It was nice to see her feeling good again,” says Hayden. “She was able to really tough it out. Her drive is so fierce.”
Sophomore Tara Mortell had her strongest showing to date, placing 10th, while senior Mina Moscatelli was able to toe the line again after rehabbing an injury to place 19th. Freshman Mia Shanks finished with a personal record time of 25:34 to finish in 33rd place and the girls team placed fourth out of 15 teams.
“We were very happy with that—it was a huge surprise,” says Hayden.
The team heads over to Paonia to compete in another new race on Friday, October 4. The course will provide the Titans an opportunity to continue hill work and focus on their turnover and fitness on the downhills, a feature that can make or break the Titans performance on the state championship course.
“It’s great training for states for so many reasons and we’ll see some of our regional competition,” says Hayden.