Joe Donelson comes back as a senior this fall after a full year of solid improvement. Photo by Paul Jaeger.
Last year, the Vanguard girls flew under the radar, almost up until the state meet. Except for the fact that I'm exposing them right now, the Vanguard boys could do much the same this year. As 2A cross country teams go, this is a good team. A team with some question marks, to be sure, but still a good team.
Last year, the Coursers quietly qualified for state and then went on to finish a very respectable seventh on the demanding Arapahoe County Fairgrounds course. Their top finisher from last year's state meet graduated, but the rest of the team should be back, with a possible x factor.
Let's start with the returners and then discuss possibilities.
Joe Donelson leads the crew of returners. Donelson finished fourth at the regional meet last fall, then had a bit of a disappointing race to finish 26th at state. Over the spring, however, Donelson developed a great deal as a runner, finishing the season as a 4:45/10:30 kind of runner. While those kind of times aren't going to win the state cross country meet, they are the kind of times you need to be competitive in 2A.
Also back from last year's state team are Mason Chermack and Jacob Evangelista. Both ran around 12:00 for the 3200 this spring, Evangelista a little below, and Chermack a little above. Neither one, however, seems to have yet tapped his full potential.
Things get more interesting, however, when you start to ponder the possibility of sophomore-to-be William Mayhew running cross country for this team in the fall. Wherever Mayhew was last fall, it wasn't on the Vanguard cross country team. But, when he came out for track in the spring, he ran 2:01 for the 800 and 4:43 for the 1600. Those times would be indicative of someone who can help this team--a lot.
It's also worth noting that, at this same time last year, the Vanguard girls seemed a long way from a team that would be bringing home a trophy from state at the end of October. There's a lot of excitement in this program right now and the boys stand to be the next beneficiaries of that enthusiasm. This isn't a program wondering any longer if it can compete; it's now a program that carries lofty dreams with them wherever they go.
The Coursers have a pile of boys who ran 19-something and up last fall. If we see a breakthrough into low 18s or better from one or two of these guys, this could be a very interesting team in the fall.
Between Lyons, Rangely, Telluride, Hotchkiss, and Crested Butte, the top end of 2A boys cross country figures to be pretty tough this fall. Vanguard looks like the kind of team that can take the lead of the next group, or with a spectacular season, hitch a ride on the same express train the big five are already on.