Coach Bernie Pearce has great reason to be feeling great about his boys team prospects for this fall.
It begins with the fact that Ouray brings back all four members of their State team from last fall. They were all freshmen and sophomores, meaning it's reasonable to hope for a decent sized performance jump out of these guys.
The veterans Ouray figures to be leaning on most heaving this fall will be juniors Cooper Rondinelli, Zach Briggs, and Evan Alsup. Coming in as freshmen with a chance to make a difference even in the short term are Harold Rayos and Evan Donovan.
Evan Vann is another who could possibly figure, but Vann has seen no action since the regional meet last fall. Vann was mostly the #4 for Ouray last fall.
All in all, that makes for a lot of Evans on one team.
One qualifier to all the optimism that figures to bring is the observation that only Rondinelli and Briggs ran track this spring. Two of six isn't exactly a reassuring fraction. Clearly, the Trojans will hope for the best from the other four.
If off-season dues have been being paid, Ouray figures as a possible threat for the 2A title. A bit of a longshot, sure, but still a threat.
Rondinelli ran 10:54 for 3200 this spring. Briggs ran 2:06 for 800 and 4:57 for 1600. Both should have eyes wide open with a vision for bigger things this fall.
Ouray typically runs an all Western Slope schedule in the fall. But, as the Trojans are a 2A team, they should get plenty of read on how well they stand up against 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A teams this fall. They should see them all at one time or another. They make take it on the chin a time or two early, but patience and perseverance could pay big rewards for this team.