The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Running this Saturday in Gunnison
By Than Acuff
It was quite the start for the Crested Butte Titans cross-country team as they opened the racing season at the Joe Vigil Invite in Alamosa that brought in 28 boys’ teams and 23 girls’ teams from schools of all sizes with 250 runners toeing the line for the girls’ race and 300 for the boys.
“It was so great there were so many kids out there,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall. “There was always someone to run with.”
Given it was the first race of the year for the Titans with a team of both veteran runners and runners new to the high school scene, the coaches had a plan in place for their athletes that mixed both teamwork as well as individual effort.
“We told them you can go out and run with your friends but run your own race,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “The race was really about passing bodies. Just race and not worry about times.”
Freshman Tazzy Pozner led the Titans in the girls’ race using a strong start and a gritty finish to place in the top third of the field, 14th among the freshmen.
“She had a great start and ran a great two and a half miles and battled through some physical discomfort,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
A Titan four-pack of runners teamed together 800 meters into the race and worked off each other when Ali Johnson and Ilo Hawley put in one extra effort to be the next Titans across the line with Josie Feier and Sophia Bender next into the finish line and Jacey Deroche next for Crested Butte wrapping her first high school race.
“It was really fun to watch that pack work together,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “Super fun to see team tactics happening.”
The Titan boys then walked to the line to go toe-to-toe with 300 runners. Giles Billick started out his final season of running high school cross-country with a bang pacing against some of the top runners in the state to finish the day in 32nd place.
“Giles is a really savvy racer and he just got faster,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
Both Cody Pleak and Max Sullivan ran aggressive races to finish in 41st and 43rd place respectively and Flint Hoyt was next among the veteran crew of Titan runners.
“All four of them have been part of the state team so they know how to race,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
Typically, in the smaller races the top four runners score points for the team. In a race of this size, the top five score points and freshman Micah Hansen broke the 20-minute mark to score additional key points as the Titans placed ninth out of 30 teams and first place among the smaller schools.
“It was great to see those guys up there,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “Pretty cool to be in the top 10. Unfortunately, people have noticed us.”
Jayden Beyer, Cole Wimmett and Donovan Gagen then rounded out the Titans’ effort with both Gagen and Beyer getting their first taste of a high school race and Wimmett shaving one minute and 23 seconds off his previous best time in the five-kilometer race.
The Titans will be racing in the valley this weekend as they line up for the Cowboy Invite behind the middle school in Gunnison on Saturday, September 14. The boys line up at 11:15 a.m. and the girls’ race starts at 11:45 a.m.
“We’d love to see some Titans fans out there,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
