The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It was a little chaotic to be honest”
by Than Acuff
In what has already been a wild ride for the Crested Butte Titans cross-country team this season got a lot wilder at their league meet in Monte Vista on Friday, October 16.
The team has been dealing with a host of injuries and illnesses all season and have yet to be at full strength at a single race. Then the October break hit leaving them even more depleted when they headed to the league meet. Nevertheless, six runners were set to make it to the race only to drop down to five when family travel plans were thwarted by airline delays.
Still, the team has maintained a level of resilience all season and the five runners and coaches Bart Spedden and Laura Puckett Daniels were in Monte Vista to preview the course only to have another curveball thrown at them.
Both coaches took a look at the course laid out for the race and both coaches, as well as coaches from other teams, struggled to make any sense of it. In the end, they got the direction of the race figured out and, for the first time ever, there was a point on the course where runners would intersect and have to cross each other. Then, upon further inspection, it turned out the course was actually 2/10ths of a mile longer than your typical high school cross-country course.
“It was a little chaotic to be honest,” says Spedden.
All of that aside, given the race was at the tail end of the October break, the plan for the Titan runners was less time and place oriented and more practice oriented.
“We were approaching it as a rust-buster more than anything else,” says Spedden. “We went in pretty relaxed and just told them to go out and run, no pressure.”
The girls raced first with Dari Spedden the lone Titan toeing the line. Dari had a tough go the last race as one of her ribs popped out mid-race leaving her in pain yet still dug to finish the race. With her rib back in place and feeling healthy, Dari was looking to shave some time and continue her ascent with regionals and the state championships on the horizon. While the chaotic course did trip up several runners, Dari ignored the distractions and ran to a fourth-place finish and shy of a personal record time.
“I think she had in her mind she had her best race but was disappointed when she saw her time,” says Bart. “But the course being as weird as it was, I don’t think anyone ran a good race.”
Four boys then lined up for the Titans and with times thrown out the window and the October break still in place, they had a mix of experiences. Micah Hansen had the top result among the boys, but it was Noah Lockman who stole the show.
“He was mentally locked in and put together a really solid race,” says Bart.
Eli Hansen and Eero Stai were next to finish for the Titans and Bart put the day into perspective.
“Most of the kids were definitely still on ‘vacation’ but it will set them up better for regionals,” says Bart. “This was a really good practice.”
The regional race is in Mancos on Friday, October 23 and Crested Butte will be racing against 16 other 2A teams. The good news is it could be the first time the Titans will be able to show up full strength provided they all remain healthy. If they do, it will also be the first time the girls’ team can race as a team with four runners set to race. And just in time as regionals are when it all comes to a head with this one race determining state qualifications. Runners can qualify in one of two ways, either as part of a team or if they finish top 15 as an individual.
“I definitely think we have a shot at getting a couple of guys and a couple of girls into state with maybe one wild card,” says Bart.
