The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Definitely mission accomplished for what we wanted”
By Than Acuff
It was quite the start to the 2025 track and field season for the Crested Butte Titans team as they finished on the podium in 12 separate events and posted a flurry of top 10 results at the Delta Panther Invitational on Saturday, March 8.
Nineteen Titans made the trip to the first meet of the season to face 11 other schools sized 4A to 2A with the first meet a way to get new athletes familiar with the workings of a meet, re-familiarize returning athletes as well as get some training on a real track.
“It was good to remind them what a 400-meter track feels like,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall. “It was a good fitness check and a little bit of practice too.”
With Sullivan-Marshall and coach Sophie Klein running around keeping an eye on as many Titans as they could throughout the day, it also gave an opportunity for the athletes to fine-tune race day details.
“It’s a long day and they’re learning how to maintain energy,” explains Sullivan-Marshall. “We rely on the kids knowing what to do with some help from the upperclassmen, so it was good practice for everybody.”
Based on their success from the day, it appears the Titans seem to have their meet day schedules down pretty good already as they saw success throughout sprints, relays, distance events and some of the field events. Not just against other schools but also in their development from last season.
“A lot of athletes ran faster and jumped further than they did a year ago at the same event,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “Looking back to last year, it’s really fun to see the growth.”
As a result, their team scores jumped as well with the girls’ team placing 8th out of 12 teams and the boys finishing in fifth place overall.
Seven Titans on the girls’ team posted personal records (PRs) compared to last year with others making their mark early in their high school career. Freshman Ali Johnson just edged out her competition at the finish line to place third in the 800-meters and Eva Loflin and Paloma Lamar set PRs to finish third and fifth in the 200-meter event. Ilo Hawley, Brie Bender, Johnson and Josie Feier teamed up to take fourth in the 4×400-meter relay and Lamar, Hawley, Bender and Loflin posted a second-place finish in the 4×200-meter relay race. Hawley also stepped up in the individual 400 meters to run to a third-place finish.
Meanwhile, the boys set 11 PRs on the day including Cody Pleak in the 1600 meters to place third with Flint Hoyt behind him in fourth place. Pleak went on to finish second in the 3200 meters and Colby Smith ran a PR in the 400 meters to finish in second place. Hoyt, Tanner Harpel, Max Sullivan and Giles Billick teamed up to place second in the 4×800-meter relay and Billick ran to a third-place finish in the 800 meters.
“We had a lot of high placing from both teams,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “For Cody, Colby and Eva to hit PRs this early is really exciting. Definitely mission accomplished for what we wanted.”
The Titans have a break before their next meet at the North Fork Invitational in Hotchkiss on Saturday, March 22. The time will allow Titans that just joined from their winter sports to get additional training and continue building on their effort in Delta.
“We can put in a good two-week block before our next meet,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “We should have a majority of our roster going.”
