Porter Washburn carries Titan colors at state championship race

“We were really proud of the whole team as a squad”

by Than Acuff

The Crested Butte Titans cross-country season finished up last week with sophomore Porter Washburn representing the team at the 2A state championships in Colorado Springs on Saturday, October 26. While a small fish in a big pond, Washburn carried the blue and silver proudly, improving on his result and time from his state race last year.

“He’s two for two,” says coach Laura Puckett-Daniels.

Washburn made the cut to the state championships the week prior, pushing up to 15th place at regionals to earn a spot at the big show. While hoped for by the coaching staff and Washburn, it was not necessarily expected and they regrouped to prepare him for one more race.

“We really worked on tapering for regionals because he was an outside shot for state and we wanted him to peak at regionals,” explains Daniels. “So the week leading up to state was about maintaining fitness and keeping him fresh and relaxed. It was nice that he had been there before.”

Washburn had his hands full at the 2A race this year as across the board a stronger field of runners than last year was set to toe the line.

Regardless of the competition, the coaches laid out two goals for Washburn heading into Saturday’s competition.

“We wanted him to beat last year’s place and last year’s time,” says Daniels.

In the end Washburn hit both goals as he improved nearly 20 spots in his final result to finish 83rd out of 131 runners and shaved nearly two minutes off of his time last year, posting a time of 19:45.90.

“We were thrilled,” says Daniels.

The state effort wrapped up the season for the program this year for the team, a team that was both small and young. As a result, the focus this season for all of the Titan runners was progression and they all stepped up to the task at hand.

“We were really proud of the whole team as a squad,” says Daniels. “They made steady progress throughout the entire season and every kid ran either a personal best or a season’s best at regionals. More than anything I’m proud of their commitment this season to the team and to working hard and bettering themselves over the course of the season.”