Walter Schafer and Laura Tremblay photos courtesy of Victah Sailer, www.photorun.net.
With top six finishes in the junior men's 8K and junior women's 6K races, Walter Schafer of Cherry Creek High School and Laura Tremblay of the University of Colorado (formerly Thompson Valley High School) have both qualified for the US World XC Team which is team compete is Bydgoxzcz, Poland, on March 28.
Schafer earned his spot with a second-place finish at 24:10, only six seconds behind Trevor Dunbar of the University of Portland. Tremblay earned hers with a fifth-place finish at 20:46, 19 seconds behind winner Shelby Greany of Providence College.
Two other names that are familiar to fans of cross country in Colorado competed in the field. Among these, Dart Schwaderer finished 18th among the men with a time of 25:31. Ashlee Smalley finished 16th among the women with a time of 22:21. Schwaderer formerly competed for Wheat Ridge HS. Smalley, now running for the University of New Mexico, formerly ran for Greeley West High School.