Titans runners pace their way into season

Patience pays off  in the long run

[  by Than Acuff  ]

The Crested Butte Titans cross country team is back to fighting weight for the 2024 season with 21 runners on the team and coaches Shari Sullivan-Marshall, Vince Rogers and Laura Puckett Daniels back at the helm for the sixth year in a row. They even have the addition of former Titan stand out athlete Sydney Peterson as a volunteer coach.

“It’s great to have Sydney part of it,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “She has recent collegiate and high school experience and she can run with the varsity runners.”

Three years ago, the coaches all agreed to switch things up as far as preseason and early season training goes, and they’re committed to maintaining that same effort this year holding back from early season races.

“We’ve found that when we tried to force a 5k on them, it led to injuries,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “We want to give them a strong base so everybody’s ready to toe the line.”

That doesn’t mean preseason workouts are any easier or mileage is limited. In fact, the coaches use the absence of early races as an opportunity to get the most out of their workouts.

“Because we don’t have to worry about a race, we can work harder,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “We also get in a lot of cross-training to get the cardio without the impact of running.”

Among the 21 Titans running this season, there are nine girls and 12 boys which brings a new element to the team’s effort at races. While in the past they’ve fallen short scoring as a team in either the boys or girls races due to limited numbers, this year they’re strong in both.

“There’s definitely been times when we haven’t been able to score as a team and now, we’ll have enough runners at nearly every meet,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “It’ll be exciting to see what team tactics we can play.”

Furthermore, experience is on the side of the Titans as all six boys that raced in the state championships last year are back this year. In addition, among the junior girls on the roster, six have been running for the Titans since they were freshmen.

“They all know they can do it because they’ve done it,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

The Titans kick off their race season on Saturday, September 7 in Alamosa and their schedule for the season includes three meets they’ve raced in before and four new meets.

“We played with the schedule to meet all of our kids’ needs,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

Crested Butte is a division 2A school and while most meets include athletes from smaller 1A schools to the largest 5A schools, the coaches also have a meet specific to the Titans’ size midway through the year to give them an idea of how they match up against runners they will face at regionals and states.

“We’re mixing it up a bit and that will show our kids where they stack up,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “The end game is October.”