The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Twisty turns, smoke and bees
By Than Acuff
With smoke from a nearby fire, a swarm of bees and a unique and challenging course before them, the Crested Butte Titans cross-country team rose to the challenge clearing those three hurdles and more to run away with a first place finish for the boys team and a second place finish for the girls team at the Gerald Archuleta Invitational meet in Antonito on Friday, September 20.
It was the smallest meet of the year for the Titans thus far and that can be a good thing, and a bad thing. On the one hand, the Titans got to compete against similarly sized schools rather than getting swarmed in a mass of larger schools. In addition, they got a glimpse of 2A teams in their region.
The downside is that in smaller races, runners can find themselves out on the course running alone in “no man’s land” with no one to pull off or push away from.
“When there are fewer runners, this adds an extra challenge to a 5k because there can be larger gaps between racers which can be mentally challenging,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall.
The girls were the first to race and made the most of the situation led by Tazzy Pozner and Eva Loflin. The two athletes stayed true to team tactics running the first mile together and finished in sixth and seventh place respectively.
“I wanted Tazzy to go out a little more conservative and Eva challenged herself to stay up with Tazzy,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “They ran great, smart races and are super proud to be in the top 10.”
Ali Johnson found herself in the aforementioned “no man’s land” for the second half of her race. Nevertheless, she continued to push on until the end to cross in 13th place and Josie Feier was the next Titan to cross as she posted her second fastest time of the season to finish in 17th to be the fourth and final scorer for the team as the girls finished in second place overall.
But the Titan girls weren’t done as Sophia Bender stayed in step with her race plan and put in one more final push at the end to crack the top 20. Ilo Hawley tapped into the mental side of running to finish strong with Jacey Deroche not far behind as both finished in the top 25.
“Jacey continues to impress in her rookie season,” says Sullivan-Marshall.
Aubrey Laird then came through the finish line after a steady race dropping one minute per mile from her race just a week ago and closing with a hard kick to the end.
The boys were up next, and it was a showcase of the boys’ talent when running against their 2A and 1A peers as four Titans finished in the top 10.
Cody Pleak, Giles Billick, Max Sullivan and Flint Hoyt came through the first mile in the top 10. The race then broke open and Billick and Pleak stayed in stride to finish in second and third place. Sullivan had some additional issues to overcome but never swayed to place fourth and Hoyt rounded out the Titan top 10 four-pack finish with his best result yet to place seventh.
“They all raced really strong,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “It was them against the clock and they could have easily just cruised in, but they kept on pressing.”
Colby Smith ran a season’s best to finish 15th overall, Cole Wimett shaved another 30 seconds off his previous best time to place 20th, James Brady flirted with a personal record despite the tricky course and Oskar Camp set a goal for his finish time in his first race of the season and exceeded his expectations crushing his projected time goal by almost five minutes.
“Overall, everyone performed really well,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “It’s always good to see where we stack up against similar sized schools.”
The Titans head to Delta on Friday, September 27 where they will return to a bigger field of runners against larger schools.
“It’s shaping up to be a really strong race,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “I’m really excited for this race and the kids are looking forward to it.”
