Titans rumble in Ramble at the Reservoir

Battle injury and illness to post more PRs

It seems as if the course at the Ramble at the Reservoir cross-country meet in Ridgway was created to make high school runners crack.
First, there’s the bottleneck. Two hundred yards from the start, the course goes from wide open to a narrow track two or three people wide, often pinching off a majority of the field. As a result, how a race goes for several runners can be decided in the first 200 meters of the five-kilometer race.
“It’s the only course I tell them to go out fast,” says coach Connie Hayden.
The next mile is all downhill until it cranks back up for 600 meters. Toss in a stairs section, some hairpin turns and a firm surface, and you’ve got a course that Hayden describes as “brutal.”
Fortunately, it’s on just such a course that the Titans traditionally rally and this past Saturday was no different.
Despite the team being whittled down to 12 runners—seven girls and five boys—due to injury and illness, the Titans who did show up had some of their best results to date on the course.
“All of their mountain running and hill climbing paid off,” says Hayden.
Senior Amber Scott put the pedal to the metal in her race, chasing a couple of hotshot twins out of Delta. Scott posted her fastest time to date on the Ridgway course to finish just 20 seconds behind the Delta runners in third place.
“She was definitely pushing herself to stay with the twins,” says Hayden.
Junior Mina Moscatelli continues her climb into racing form, cracking the top 25 in Ridgway. After battling some leg issues last season and into this season, Moscatelli and her coaches have her on a cross-training regimen this season, taking every other day off from running.
“She’s running through it but in a very delicate way,” says Hayden. “We’re still trying to pack some fitness into that and she’s getting there.”
Meanwhile, senior captain Sophia Deer is making the most of her first injury-free season since freshman year. Deer shaved six minutes off her previous best time at the Ramble, proving she’s on the fast track to a strong final season.
While the boys’ team was missing junior Forrest Smith due to a nagging knee injury, juniors Danny D’Aquila, Kyle Boyle and sophomore Jack Duryea took the helm.
D’Aquila cracked the top 10 for his first time ever, placing eighth, and posted the second fastest time on the course for all Titans runners past and present.
Boyle took over two minutes off his previous best at Ridgway to place 13th and Duryea finished 20th, his best result to date.
“Danny, Kyle and Jack are working really hard this year and it shows,” says Hayden.
The Titans have their biggest race of the regular season this Saturday, September 29 in Grand Junction at the Anna Banana Invitational. More than 20 teams from throughout the Western Slope line up for the event to get a taste of lower altitude racing.
“It’s really good competition and we get a look at our regional competition at this race,” says Hayden.
In addition to the low altitude, the course is also flat and hard allowing runners to put down some seriously fast times.
“We’re hoping to hammer it in every way,” says Hayden.
Hayden and coach Shari Sullivan-Marshall have the team switching gears this week to work on building some speed among their runners.
 “We’re looking for quicker turnover and sustaining that turnover,” says Hayden. “We’re backing off the distance and increasing the pace.”