This article is devoted solely to those young men and women who train and compete for schools west of the Continental Divide. Media attention in this state tends to stay close to the Front Range, but numerous athletes on the western slope make their mark on things as well. This article is an attempt to recognize their efforts and contributions.
The 5A ranks are barely represented on the western slope. Only Grand Junction, Central (Grand Junction), Fruita-Monument, and Durango have 5A programs on the western slope. Of these, only the boys teams from Durango and Fruita-Monument will be represented in the state meet.
Durango, despite faltering a little in the Region 5 meet in Colorado Springs on Thursday, has had a fine season, led by Rogan Brown (at right). The good news for the Demons is the your regional score doesn't count at state. They made it to state and live to race again. You can figure that this team has already resolved that they need to redeem themselves for the regional lapse.
In the 4A ranks, western Colorado will be much better represented. In fact, an entire 4A region (less Summit) is comprised of western slope teams.
Traditional powers Battle Mountain and Moffat County took the top two slots coming out of this region. Connor Wallace paced the Battle Mountain crew with the region's individual title. Other qualifiers out of this region were Steamboat Springs and Summit.
On the girls side, Summit (again, not quite a western slope school) won the region but few who follow western slope cross country will be surprised to learn that Glenwood Springs, Battle Mountain, and Moffat County will also be bringing teams over the mountain.
The Moffat County girls had an impressive 1-2 finish on the regional course at the Delta Speedway, with Alicia Nelson finishing first in 18:15 and Maddy Jourgensen second in 18:32. Both should be on the short list of potential top-10 state finishers and Nelson qualifies as a contender for the individual title.
Moving down a classification to 3A, Bayfield returns to make its annual run at a state title on the boys side of the ledger. This year's version of the team compares nicely with the 2005 team that upset heavily-favored Colorado Springs Christian School by a single point for the 3A title. Tanner Phelps typically runs first for the Wolverines, followed closely by Derek Laue (at left, photo courtesy of Patrick Vaughn).
It's never difficult to find the Bayfield boys on the cross country course. Look low, because somewhere they tapped into an endless supply of full-length bright yellow socks (roughly the color of the Greeley West singlets, for those of us on the Front Range requiring a reference point).
Once again, the 3A regional was held at the Delta Speedway and the Bayfield boys brought their racing gears. All four scorers posted times under 17:20!
Jackson Walsh and his Pagosa Springs teammates will also be coming over the mountain by virtue of a second-place regional finish for both. Other boys team representatives will be Gunnison and Basalt.
Among 3A girls, Basalt comes to state with an incredible 1-2 in Chiara Del Piccolo and Nettie Stenstadvold. Unfortunately, however, Basalt has no 3-4 and, therefore, no team to bring over. So far as complete teams go, Gunnison and Pagosa Springs have been very tightly matched the last two weeks and figure to be once again at state. Hotchkiss won the final 3A qualifying spot from the western slope.
Individually, the western slope sends over several girls with top 10 implications. In addition to the aforementioned duo from Basalt, Grand Valley's Brandi Krieg, Johanna Reed of Hotchkiss, and Anna George of Gunnison all come over with hopes of medaling.
The 2A regional, also contested in Delta, sent Ouray and Mancos over for boys teams and Crested Butte and Mancos over for girls teams. Only four complete teams participated in each race.
Quality and quantity often head in divergent directions, however, and nobody should be misled by the sparsity of teams coming over. In the girls division, in particular, Crested Butte and Mancos figure to be two of the strongest teams in the 2A girls classification. Crested Butte would appear, at this point, to have the best shot at toppling the Nederland juggernaut for the 2A girls title. Sophomore Erin Kelly leads the Titans and is certainly fleet enough afoot to be in the mix for the individual championship.
This article is devoted solely to those young men and women who train and compete for schools west of the Continental Divide. Media attention in this state tends to stay close to the Front Range, but numerous athletes on the western slope make their mark on things as well. This article is an attempt to recognize their efforts and contributions.
The 5A ranks are barely represented on the western slope. Only Grand Junction, Central (Grand Junction), Fruita-Monument, and Durango have 5A programs on the western slope. Of these, only the boys teams from Durango and Fruita-Monument will be represented in the state meet.
Durango, despite faltering a little in the Region 5 meet in Colorado Springs on Thursday, has had a fine season, led by Rogan Brown (at right). The good news for the Demons is the your regional score doesn't count at state. They made it to state and live to race again. You can figure that this team has already resolved that they need to redeem themselves for the regional lapse.