The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Boys’ team takes third
By Than Acuff
Despite the surprise course at the Coal Ridge Invite on Saturday, September 13, the Crested Butte Titans cross-country team had little trouble switching gears to find their stride as the boys’ team placed third, several runners got their first taste of high school cross-country racing, and five Titans set personal records (PR).
“Overall, everyone raced well,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall. “I liked that the course wasn’t a pancake where you just go as fast as you can. There were no breaks, never a flat spot but it was still a fast course.”
The next slight curveball for the Titans came in the format of the race as due to a narrow start, they broke both the girls’ race and the boys’ race into two waves each. But, again, that didn’t seem to faze the Titans as they focused on their efforts and worked off of each other when and where they could.
“We told them to just race and not worry about times,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “Times will come when you race well.”
The Titan girls lined up first with just four able to make it to the race due to other conflicts and Dari Spedden continues to have a great start to ger high school racing career placing 19th out of 150 runners.
“She worked on her mental game as entering the loop for the second time was daunting, but she raced to the end,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
Ali Johnson was the next Titan posting a time similar to her race on the flat course in Alamosa just a week prior while Eva Loflin fought through cramp issues to put in a strong close with a great kick down the stretch. Ainsley Stewart is one of a handful of seniors running cross-country for the first time and Coal Ridge was her first race and she came through strong in her effort.
“I told her, you had your debut on a really hard course,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “All of the girls ran with such heart and positivity.”
The 13 Titan boys then took their spots in the two-wave start with seven of the Titans in the first wave and six in the second wave. Cody Pleak set the tone for the boys running to an eighth-place finish while Max Sullivan was just two spots back in 10th place.
“Cody ran a very competitive race trading spots with the runners around him and battling to the end,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “Max earned a tenth-place ribbon in similar fashion. He executed his race plan and used the hills to his advantage.”
Flint Hoyt posted an 18th place finish and Jayden Beyer and Micah Hansen teamed up throughout the whole race with one doing the charging on the uphills and the other setting the pace on the downhills. They ended up neck-and-neck at the finish with Beyer coming in just five seconds of his PR and Hansen setting a new PR by 30 seconds sealing the third-place result for the team ahead of several teams from bigger schools.
“They were able to pull each other around the course,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “The third-place finish gave the team some confidence.”
The remaining Titan boys were a mix of first race experience, some physical issues and some teamwork to help get through the hilly course as everyone crossed the line.
They take next weekend off from racing so Sullivan-Marshall will use the time to get a harder training block in for the runners closing the block running with the CB Mountain Runners, a tradition that started back when the Titans cross-country team first began. Their next race will be in Delta on Friday, September 26.
