Titans cross-country rallies and suffers in Gunnison last week

Heat puts smackdown on girls 

By Than Acuff 

The Titans made the short trip to Gunnison on Saturday, September 14 for the Mountaineer/Cowboy Open cross-country race and while having a race close to home is nice, the timing of the races can lead to heat issues with the boys’ race starting at 11:15 a.m. and the girls’ race at 11:45 a.m. 

Fortunately for the boys, temperatures were still somewhat mild when they lined up for their race with eight Titans stepping up to the start line on the Van Tuyl trail system behind the Gunnison Middle School.

After getting their first race of the season in last week, the coaches made some adjustments for the Gunnison event and those changes had a positive effect nearly across the board for the Titan boys.

“We tried a few new things around pacing and I think that felt really good for the kids,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall. “Of the six runners that raced the same course last year, all of them improved on their times. That was a good gauge of their growth.”

Giles Billick and Cody Pleak jumped into the mix from the start and maintained their pace to finish the day in eighth and ninth place respectively.

“I think that’s the first time we’ve had two runners in the top 10 at this race,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

Flint Hoyt wasn’t too far behind as he crossed in 13^th place taking massive strides on his previous efforts in Gunnison.

“Flint improved tremendously on this course,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

Colby Smith was the next runner to cross for the Titans coming in 37^th place out of 106 runners and freshman Micah Hansen put the finishing touches on the team scoring as the fifth Titan to cross as the Crested Butte boys team took fourth place out of 10 teams.

“Every team ahead of us was a lot bigger,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “It was good to see how we match up against other 2A teams and teams in our region.”

James Brady and Cole Wimett were among the upperclassmen who shaved times and places off their previous races in Gunnison and freshman Donovan Gagen rallied to finish his second high school race.

Then the heat hit just as the girls were lining up, bringing both a mental and physical challenge for the Titans team. Freshmen Tazzy Pozner and Ali Johnson led the way for Crested Butte with Pozner placing 30^th and Johnson 47^th out of 92 runners.

“Tazzy placed top 30 which is so great for a freshman,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “She had a great second mile and that was her goal, to push the second mile.”

Josie Feier was next into the finish for Crested Butte with Sophia Bender and Ilo Hawley coming through together, Jacey Deroche still getting her racing experience was next and Elise Crisi and Aubrey Laird used the race for training as they’re still coming back from illnesses.

“Heat can cause stress and there were a lot of lessons learned,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

The Titans head to Antonito on Friday, September 20 for their next race and Sullivan-Marshall is looking for a strong effort from both teams as they will nearly be at full strength by then.