Ryan Currie's last competition of the season was the UNM Lobo Invitational, but he was a motivating factor for Mountain Vista nevertheless. Colorado Track XC file photo by Alan Versaw.
Clouds of dust, two creek crossings, a mile of grinding uphill, 70+ degree temps. What motivates people to run under such conditions? Coaches, parents, and runners alike have been trying solve this riddle for years. Here are some stories from last Saturday that might provide some perspective.
Many teams run as a family. Often it is the literal pacesetter within these tight knit teams that plays the role of motivator,
One such individual is Palmer Ridge’s Eric Hamer. After finishing fourth place last year Hamer had a lot to look forward to this fall. Yet the senior had an understanding of what was being asked of him beyond the seconds spent on a racecourse.
“As they say in the movies, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ I’ve seen people who were state champions, and they had absolute disregard for their teammates. I figured I have a great team, and I have great coaches. I need my team to win. If I don’t have my teammates I’m not going to win. I needed them.”
Varsity senior Tommy Herebic also alluded to the impact Hamer has on the team’s motivation.
“He’s our number one guy. He’s been leading the team our last three years. Building us up. Thanks to Eric for stepping up.”
Palmer Ridge ran according to plan as a team, even against the improved Niwot squad. Undoubtedly Hamer will be missed next fall, but look for the likes of sophomores Andrew Rudnicki and Jeremy Meadows to cement the foundation Hamer laid this year.
There is another exceptional runner who has grown up in big ways at the state meet for the last two years. As a ninth grader Lauren Gregory scorched the trail beneath her heels last year in a fashion that many senior runners could never imagine, but her day did fall short in one area, as a team Fort Collins came in second to Monarch. This year it was not massive personal improvement on the same course or even the fastest time of the day that was a priority to Gregory. She had one thing one her mind.
“Knowing that you have to have your team on your back, and that they’ll be right there, that you’re all in this together. It’s so powerful and moving and so motivational. I wanted our team to win, so I don’t care about time as long as I do my part. Leave it all out there so the team could win.”
Look for Fort Collins to make the trip to NXR-SW next month with more of the same team-mindedness.
The Mean Moose of Alamosa found motivation from two seniors in the varsity roster. Jericho Ulibarri has shared the pace load with sophomore Isaiah Del La Cerda all season. Last Saturday senior Tanner Martin strode into the stadium in the important fifth spot for Alamosa. From that spot Martin was able to see his teammates Caleb Palmer and Miguel Mateo-Baltazar finish as he entered the stadium. Martin was so sure of the Mean Moose’s victory he threw up his arms as he crossed over the timing mats.
“I knew that we had it. We talked about it before the race. Jericho and Isaiah told us in the huddle, ‘Boys we’re going to have the party start at the finish line.’ When I crossed that line I knew. There was places 15 and 16 and I was our fifth guy; there was no way we lost, I put it up, and we let the party start.”
As expected the rally point of a team is often the literal leader, but for both the boys of Mountain Vista and Lyons the motivation for the squad can for an unfortunate occurrence that plagues every team at some point, injury.
The Vista Nation had to hold its breath this season as the boys quested for their third state championship in a row. The Golden Eagles battled the boys of Fort Collins all season. Varsity runner Ryan Currie fell victim to injury late in the season. Rather than exit with heads bowed the boys of Mountain Vista rallied around Currie.
Coach Jonathan Dalby was impressed with how he’s team reacted. “They were really out there running for a teammate that couldn’t be out there. We had some kids step up real nicely. Some young kids that had to kind of grow up this season before their time. They did a great job of it. Filled in the gaps, and did it for their teammates.”
In the end as the volunteers at state broke down the finish Coach Jonathan Dalby handed the first place trophy across a Vista Nation huddle to Currie.
Last season was an historic event for Lyons. After floods forced the team from their homes the team refused to give up and swept both individual titles in 2A and took home the boys team title in perfect fashion. It was the first time the State meet saw a perfect score.
This year the script ran differently, but the significance did not diminish in the least. The Lyons girls won the first ladies team title in the school’s prestigious tradition. As for the boys the picture looked bleak after the injury of the team’s consistent second runner Joel Such. Such watched much of the season from the sidelines, but persevered, and laced up his racers for the state meet.
“We really wanted to win. We were favored all season then I got injured. I started to doubt myself. I knew I need to be confident in myself so I could run as best as I could for the team.”
He placed 14 spots back from his third-place finish of last year. For most other runners, that fact could be calculated as a crushing defeat, but for Such and the rest of Lyons it proved to be their moment of victory.
Writing on various limbs is becoming more and more of a trend at big meets. CeAnn Udovich and Sierra Tucker, varsity runners for Lyons had messages scrawled in their inner forearms. For Tucker the message was about faith.
“Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God goes with you.”
For Udovich the note contained wisdom from her father.
“The suffering is worth it in the end.”
Udovich’s father before every race reinforces the message. Today it was important as ever.
“I almost started getting into my head. I was like, ‘I’m so done with this race. I don’t want to race anymore’ Then I thought about it and I thought of my parents and my team. They all tell me ‘the sufferings worth it in the end.’ So I was like, ‘I cannot lose my focus.’ And it worked.”
The sophomore found her dad in the stands after her race to show him the message on her arm.
Udovich’s second place finish was key in the Lyons team victory. It is also worth noting that if it wasn’t for Tabor Scholl, Mark Roberts would have become the third coach in Colorado history to sweep the individual and team titles in a state meet.
The ladies of Mountain View also had inscriptions in silver marker all over their arms. Sophomore Lauren Offerman and senior Riley Cooney placed 4th and 6th respectively to deliver the one-two punch of a 2-4-10-55-56 scoring spread (with non-team runners removed).
Cooney explained, “Our coach writes ‘believe’ on our arms. That’s something we’ve done every cross country race. It’s been our mantra. We have to believe, we have to trust in ourselves, trust in our training. We all wrote each other names on each others arms just so we can think of something other than ourselves. We can look down and know we’re running for something bigger.
Offerman followed up, “I think that’s the main thing, so we’re not focusing on ourselves if you see someone else’s name it’s harder to let your teammates down than it is to let yourself down.”
The silver motivations yielded a golden performance on the ten-year anniversary of the last Mountain View girls state title.
For the fastest male finisher of the day, motivation has always come from his siblings. Andrew Roberts ran for a victory in 2007, and his younger brother Paul has been carrying on the family tradition. After collecting his third champion’s medal, Paul elaborated on the influence of his older brother and younger brother.
“I tried to get my older brothers school record and all his other records going up, but my little brother Isaac is running really well. He’s run 5:07 as a sixth grader.”
It seems that Lyons and a Roberts could be motivating 2A for several seasons to come.