The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It’s a good meet to rip the band-aid off after April Break”
[ by Than Acuff ]The hope was that when everyone returned from the school’s April Break, the Crested Butte Titans track team could get back to work at or near full strength as they readied themselves for the Olathe Invitational on Thursday, April 25 and get back into the rhythm of track season.
“It’s a good meet to rip the band-aid off after April Break,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall.
That hope was somewhat dashed though as illnesses continued to linger for some of the Titans athletes and others popped up from their vacations, most of them spent on beaches, when they returned to workouts.
“We still had some illnesses and Monday was pretty rough getting everyone breathing hard at altitude,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall.
But, as the week progressed, the 21 athletes that were healthy soon transitioned back to race mode as the Titans had another strong showing and continued to improve across the board in their efforts and results.
“The ones that were there really showed up and raced well,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
The Titans opened the meet on point with both boys 4×800-meter relay teams placing in the top eight to score points for the team. Sam Bullock, Jake Pendy, Cody Pleak and Finn Veit teamed up to place second while Max Sullivan, Kenny Bullock, Micah Hansen and Flint Hoyt ran to a seventh-place finish.
“That was a fun way to start the meet,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
The 4×400 relay team of Colby Smith, Cole Wimett, Hansen and Sam teamed up to score additional team points as well with a fifth-place finish.
The boys in the distance events did some damage as Kenny placed fifth in the 1600 meters with a personal record (PR) time. Hoyt was embroiled in a battle in the 3200 meters going back and forth with another runner in the top five. As the race progressed, he worked into fourth place and then tracked down the runner in front of him in the final 500 meters to take third place.
“It was great to see Flint keeping his eye on the guy in front of him,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “He was battling the whole time.”
The sprinters on the boys’ team also set a slew of PR times led by Shawn Moran who won his heat and set a PR to place fifth overall. And the highlight of the afternoon came in the high jump. Pleak played the game bypassing the first couple of rounds to stay rested and then jumped into the fold to continue advancing as the bar got higher eventually finishing with the win. The boys’ team finished the meet in sixth place out of 19 teams despite their depleted numbers.
Illness had hit the girls’ team pretty hard with just five Titans able to race but it didn’t slow down the athletes that were there. Eva Loflin led the girls competing in four events and scoring points in three of them. She placed fourth in the 200 meters, fifth in the 100 meters and joined Tazzy Pozner, Ali Johnson and Maryn Pritchett to take fifth in the 4×400-meter relay. Pozner also lined up for the open 400-meters for the first time and ran away to a fourth-place finish.
“That was a bit of an experiment and she ran really, really well,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
Despite the rash of illnesses forcing the coaches to scratch some of their events, the meet proved to be another positive step for the Titans as they prepare for their next event in Colorado Springs on Saturday, May 3.
“It was mission accomplished and really good momentum going into Colorado Springs,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “We will get a normal block of training to prepare and chasing times and be really strategic where we’re putting people.”
