Two Titans crack top 10 at state championships

To have both of them there and up on the podium is a sweet way to end the season.

[  by Than Acuff  ]

The crazy season of cross-country came to a climactic conclusion on Saturday, October 17 as Crested Butte Titan Connor Williams placed third and Titan Ruby Pendy placed 10th at the Colorado cross-country state championships in Colorado Springs, securing each a spot on the state podium.

“To have both of them end up on the podium is a great way to end the season,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall.

The two runners qualified for the state championships with their performances at the regional meet a week earlier, when both Williams and Pendy won. Once all the times from around the state were documented, the state race rankings were released and Williams entered the finals ranked third with Pendy ranked 10th in very competitive fields, with the top three boys all within three seconds of each other in the rankings and Pendy surrounded by as many as eight girls with a shot at that 10th and final podium spot.

With the training under their belts, preparation for the state meet was reserved and focused on health and rest. As a result, Sullivan-Marshall felt both were in the right spot to peak at state.

“They were healthy, ready and excited but not too amped up,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “They both have pretty good nerves.”

Which is remarkable given that this was the first state championship race for both Williams and Pendy, and Pendy’s only fourth five-kilometer running race ever.

With Williams in the hunt for a top-three finish and perhaps even the win, the game plan was straightforward for him—keep the leaders in reach early and see what happens. He did just that through the first mile as he stayed with the lead pack of four runners.

Following that first mile, the course turns uphill steeply for a stretch and then continues to climb for the next half of a mile before a long descent. It was there where the leader put in a major move dragging second place with him. Williams did what he could to remain in the hunt while the fourth runner dropped off but he started losing ground over the course of the second mile.

“They started building a gap on the downhill and Connor said he just didn’t have the jump in his legs,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

Still, Williams wasn’t done and while he had plenty of room on the runner behind him and could have cruised through the final mile plus and taken third, he kicked back into gear after the second mile.

“He just started closing the gap on second place and was looking strong,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

When he entered the third mile of the race he was 30 seconds off second place. By the time he reached the finish line he was just three seconds behind the second-place runner, to finish in third place.

“He just ran out of real estate,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “He definitely rebounded for an awesome third mile.”

Pendy found herself in a battle for 10th place over the entire course in her race and, with it being just her fourth five-kilometer race of her fledgling career, the coaches’ expectations were somewhat muted.

“We were both thinking top-20 would be wonderful for her first state meet,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

Pendy stepped into her spot within the first 800 meters of the race as she nudged her way into 10th place. She spent the remainder of the race bouncing between eighth and 10th place, but never panicked.

“She just always stays steady whether she passes someone or someone passes her,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

By the second mile stretch, Pendy was in 10th place and starting to pull away from the girl in 11th place.

“When she finished the second mile, we were pretty confident she would make the podium,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

Pendy made a move for ninth place and sat in there between two runners from the same team but soon fell prey to their teamwork to ultimately place 10th and take her spot on the state championships podium.

“She gave it her all on that course and for her to be 10th was so exciting,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “She’s still such a young racer to cross-country.”

While Sullivan-Marshall admits it’s always nice to have a team qualify for the state meet, the coaches are still excited about how the season finished.

“We knew we had a shot at some making it so it was great to have both a boy and girl in the race,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “I felt very grateful for the qualifiers we had. To have both of them there and up on the podium is a sweet way to end the season.”

With numbers up on the team this year and Williams a junior and Pendy a sophomore, Sullivan-Marshall is looking ahead to continued success in the coming years.

“The future is looking strong,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “It’ll be great when things get back to normal and I think it’s possible for us to get a team to state.”