Boys cross-country team takes second at state

“We didn’t have a top 10 athlete but to do this as a team shows how good we are as a team” 

By Than Acuff 

Back in 2011 the Crested Butte Titans boys cross-country team won the state title. In 2012 they placed second and in 2013 they took third. While some individual Titan runners have finished top three since then, the most recent top team result came in 2017 when the girls team placed fifth.

That is until Saturday, November 2 as the boys’ team of seniors Giles Billick and Jake Pendy and juniors Cody Pleak, Max Sullivan, Flint Hoyt and Colby Smith ran to a second-place finish at the 2A state championship in Colorado Springs to bring home a trophy.

“We knew top three was realistic and our goal was top two,” says coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall.

“I don’t remember a specific time we realized we could make it to one of the top positions in state, but from as early as the first few races of the year we knew we had a strong team that could compete at the state level,” adds Billick. 

The team got some pre-race words from Titan alumni and a member of those prolific cross-country teams of the past, Kyle Boyle, and despite their experience at the state race, nerves did creep in, but they locked into the game plan.

“We had run the course before so all of us knew what to expect but despite the past experiences we knew we had good chances to place going in, so a lot of the guys were feeling the pressure to perform,” says Billick. “Regardless everyone stood up to the pressure.”

The coaches have preached all season long for their athletes to just pass as many people as they can, and that mantra played out to perfection on Saturday.

“We reminded them it’s really just about passing bodies,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “It doesn’t matter the color of the jersey, if you can just pass the person in front of you, that counts.”

Billick was in the top 20 at the first mile marker and steadily moved his way up through the pack kicking past the runner just ahead of him in the home stretch to place 13^th.

“For me the race was one of the hardest races of the year, the field went out hard, but I was still able to move up a couple places each mile and ended with a good time,” says Billick. “Being just a few seconds off top 10 is disappointing but I know I ran one of my best races of the year.”

Meanwhile, Pleak, Sullivan, Hoyt, Smith and Pendy were spread out in the field from 35^th place and back but after the first mile, they stepped up their pace with Pleak and Sullivan charging up the final hill and passing runners in the home stretch to finish 20^th and 21^st respectively.

Hoyt made a similar pass down the home stretch to finish 37^th bringing additional key points to the team total. While Smith and Pendy finished strong as well, the Titans only needed the top four to seal their second-place team finish, a testament to their team ethic.

“We didn’t have a top 10 athlete but to do this as a team shows how good we are as a team,” says Sullivan-Marshall.

On the girls side, it was the first time for juniors Eva Loflin, Ilo Hawley, Josie Feier and Sophia Bender and freshmen Tazzy Pozner and Ali Johnson to be there. 

They too seized on the team mentality as they had all season long with Loflin, Johnson and Pozner running together through the first two miles before Pozner pulled ahead to lead the Titan charge finishing in 38^th place with Loflin in 44^th place and Johnson 45^th.

“They were pushing each other,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “Tazzy was able to push in the last mile and to get 38^th as a freshman is awesome.”

Hawley, Feier and Bender worked alongside each other as well through the first mile with Hawley making a push to lead the group to the finish line, with Feier not too far behind and Bender pushing through a cramp to rally and pass people as the team finished 11^th out of 18 teams.

“For all of them it was a great race for being new to state,” says Sullivan-Marshall. “They raced well and did what they could do. They didn’t get complacent; they competed to the end.”

For the boys it was a fitting end to years of hard work.

“Freshman year just me and Jake ran for our grade and at the time I had no idea that we would be placing at all,” says Billick. “My sophomore and junior year were promising, though, as we had a strong grade below us coming up and overall the team was very driven. I am glad to be a part of this team and proud at how far everyone has come in these last few years.”