The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Rise to the challenge of back-to-back meets
[ by Than Acuff ]It had been a while since the Crested Butte Titans track team pulled off back-to-back meets but that’s just what they did this past weekend as the Titans competed in Cañon City on Friday, May 1 and then headed to Colorado Springs on Saturday, May 2.
And while back-to-back meets can be a daunting task, the coaching staff came into the weekend with a specific plan in place to provide the athletes the best opportunity at posting their best results and the plan played out as hoped as the team put down a total of 26 personal record (PR) and eight season best (SB) results over the two days as well as 22 top 10 results.
“Most of the competition in the state has two-day league meets the same weekend and the state meet will be similar for some of our runners where they have to run two days in a row,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall. “The two days were definitely tiring but overall, it was a success with some really nice performances.”
Friday’s meet started out with a two-hour weather delay but then a came in with a bang with the boys 3200 meters as three Titans set PRs. Micah Hansen led the way placing sixth overall while Noah Lockman and Eero Stai also set PR marks.
Ilo Hawley, Ali Johnson, Dari Spedden and Sophia Bender ran away from their competition in the 4×800-meter relay to take the win. Bender would then post a PR time in the 400 meters to place fifth with Hawley taking eighth place.
The boys 4×800-meter relay team were just as impressive in their effort as Colby Smith, Max Sullivan, Flint Hoyt and Cody Pleak set a SB time to take second in their race. Pleak kept his train rolling as the day wore on placing fourth in the 1600-meter race with a PR time, took second place in the 800 meters and won the high jump in Cañon City.
The Titans then headed to Colorado Springs on Saturday to reboot for another meet and continue their efforts to improve as well as set themselves up for state qualification in certain events.
“They fueled and got their minds set right,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
The PR party continued as Lockman, Smith, Hansen and Pleak all set PR times in their respective individual events. Pleak had the top result on the boys’ side as he ran to a second-place finish with his PR time in the 3200 meters.
“He was crushed after that effort,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
After setting a PR in the 400 meters the day before, Bender did it again on Saturday with a new PR time to take fourth place.
“She had a huge breakthrough on Friday and another great breakthrough on Saturday and that’s what she’ll have to do at state,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
Spedden was tested in Colorado Springs as she ran both the 3200 meters and the 1600 meters, and she dug deep in both to place ninth and fourth respectively. Not only that but she then joined Hawley, Barbara Siqueira and Bender to run to a sixth-place finish in the 4×400-meter relay.
It’s now coming down to the wire for the Titans with the girls 4×400-meter relay team headed to Delta on Thursday, May 7 to continue their effort to qualify for the state championships. The entire team then wraps up the regular season in Montrose on Saturday, May 9.
“We definitely improved, and we now know what races to focus on Saturday,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
All told the Titans head into the final week with chances to reach the state finals in eight events if all goes according to plan.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but I feel pretty good about where we are,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
