The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Take fourth at regionals
by Than Acuff
Heading into the cross-country regionals last weekend in Delta, hopes were high that the Titans would show up and finish the day with at least three individuals qualifying for the 2A state championships and the entire girls team making the cut. In the end, while they fell short of every goal, the Titans came close as Maria O’Neal and Sydney Petersen qualified as individuals, and the entire girls team placed fourth overall to also punch their ticket to the big show.
“Nothing too surprising happened—it was about what we expected,” says coach Austin Ross.
Both O’Neal and Petersen were relatively sure things to make the cut as individuals, and Ross was hoping that they would both up the ante to finish in the top three as well. Ultimately, O’Neal finished regionals in sixth place covering the five-kilometer course in a time of 19:48.32 with Petersen next in line, finishing in seventh with a time of 20:03.90.
“I don’t think it was a great race for either of them but they both finished top 10 and can be proud of those results,” says Ross.
Titan boys runner Vincent Michel was in the hunt for an individual qualification as well. While there was no discussion of the chance he would make state at the start of the season, he progressed enough over two months to put him in the running for a spot at the state championships.
“It wasn’t a goal but something he became aware of as the season continued and he knew he had a shot,” says Ross.
Unfortunately, regionals didn’t play out as hoped, since he missed the cut, coming in 26th place.
“It was a tough day for him but he still has a lot to be proud of this season,” says Ross.
Meanwhile, the girls team spent the entire race in the mix battling for one of the top four qualifying spots. With O’Neal and Petersen leading the charge, Emilie Elkins was the third-scoring runner for the team coming in 37th place; Sierra D’Aquila finished in 41st; Linda Horne in 42nd; and Kelly Sherman placed 44th.
The efforts of all runners ended up making the difference as the Titans edged out a fourth-place finish over Hotchkiss by just three points.
“It was a close one. It was really exciting,” says Ross. “The key on that was everybody to be consistent. We just needed everybody to do what they are capable of. I don’t think our team was at its best but everybody held their own. I was giving my runners all of the encouragement I could and they responded.”
With the team spot secured, the Titans will have four runners total at the state championships with O’Neal, Petersen, Horne and Sherman all headed to Colorado Springs for the race on Saturday, October 29. Ross believes both O’Neal and Petersen could continue their rise to the top of the state standings as they are coming out of one of the most competitive regions in the state. As a result, Ross feels a top-10 finish from both of them is well within reach.
Still, it may come down to the next week of preparations and whether or not the Titans are focused on the task at hand. Ross admits the October break set all of his runners back a bit and he hopes to get them back up to speed this week.
“With another week of training, hopefully we can get them back to where they belong,” says Ross. “Tough to say if a second week will bring them around.”
The 2A state championships will be at the Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs, with the girls lining up for their race at 2 p.m. The course is very different from any the runners have seen all season, and Ross believes it can make the difference in the final performances of all of the runners.
“It’s not an easy course,” says Ross. “It’ll sort out the contenders from the pretenders fairly quickly.”
