Cross-country opens season with busy weekend

Preview state course

The Crested Butte Titans cross-country team is slowly but surely building itself into another girls’ team powerhouse.
Three members of the girls’ team

Three members of the girls’ team and two runners from the boys’ team headed to Ft. Collins on Thursday, August 28 to compete in the PSD Invite at Fossil Ridge High School.
The race was held on the state championship course for this season and coach Emma Catmur thought it would be a good preview of the course. In addition, the team got a peek at this year’s competition.
“It was good to get a feel for what some of the other 2A schools have this year,” says Catmur. “Schools from all over came in to run including a lot of Front Range schools.”
Sophomore Erin Kelly led the Titan girls against a field of 120 competitors taking fourth place on the five-kilometer course. Sophomore Hannah Smith came in 14th place and senior Emma Vosburg took 18th place.
While junior Nicholas Harper struggled in his first race of the season, sophomore Jeffery Hargrove improved on his best time from last season.
“He had a great race and improved on his PR (personal record) by a minute,” says Catmur.
The entire team regrouped and then hit the road again on Saturday, August 30 to race in the traditional cross-country season opening event, the Delta Invitational.
Catmur had seven girls travel to Delta, with three running varsity and four in the junior varsity race.
Kelly continued her strong opening to the season with a second place, breaking the 20-minute mark with a time of 19:53.
Vosburg cracked the top ten to take ninth place in a time of 21:46. Smith was close behind in 12th place with a time of 21:53.
“They all had a strong showing, considering it was their second race of the week,” says Catmur.
Junior Monica Konsella won the junior varsity race followed by solid efforts from freshman Jenna D’Aquila and seniors Kelli Hargrove and Jessie Frame.
Harper continued to battle some early season injuries in Delta but once healthy should be on track for a state bid.
Catmur will have senior Maddison Garcia and sophomore Madeline Malzhan joining the team at races soon, as she looks to see the team gain momentum over the next week.
“It’ll be nice once we get a full team,” says Catmur. “I think we’re definitely going to have a strong five or six runners.”
The team will head to Leadville this week to compete in the Leadville Invitational on Saturday, September 6.