Giulio Del Piccolo had matters safely in hand by the 2.2 mile mark. Photos by Alan Versaw.
Suppose they gave a meet for red-and-black schools and a purple school came. It happened this morning. And one of the guys in purple ran away with the meet title.
On a course where nobody was quite sure what to expect, Giulio Del Piccolo ran 17:40 to win it all, beating teammate Jacob Besser in second by a full 30 seconds.
So, why was nobody sure what to expect out of the times on this course? Because the Eagle Valley Cross Country Invitational is a brand new meet on a brand new course. The Gypsum Creek Golf Course made for a scenic, and reasonably challenging course--lots of rollers and plenty of soft turf to negotiate. By any standard, then, 17:40 is a solid time on this course, one that should have the prognosticators thinking hard about Del Piccolo's chances at being a medalist at state later this fall.
The Longhorns made a bid at taking home the team title, but ...