Callahan earns honorable mention all-state honors as freshman

Jordan Callahan capped her freshman cross country season with Class 3A Honorable Mention All-State honors.

With a time of 20 minutes, 16.5 seconds, Callahan finished in 22nd place at the state meet on Nov. 1. Her performance made her one of just 12 freshmen in 3A to be recognized with a postseason award of the 50 runners that made the list. These are accomplishments that Gunnison coach Blake Davis said puts her in a position for an impressive run over the next three seasons.

“I think it means a ton,” Davis said. “It sets us up for a lot of success. She did this as a 14-year-old. By the time she is 18 there will have been a lot of growth that can take place.”

In order to achieve the growth she experienced as a ninth grader, Callahan checked in as a runner and got to work early. She bought into the Cowboys’ run plan, worked hard in practice and was in peak form for the state meet.

Because of that success, Davis said Callahan’s success should be a sign to everyone that hard work pays off for everyone that wants to run cross country. Callahan went from running in junior high meets to receiving a postseason accolade reserved for the best runners in the state.

“It should show other people and other girls that all it takes is five months,” Davis said. “You can be a totally different runner. That’s when she started putting in hard miles and hard work. And look how well it worked out for her.”

Even though she was successful as a freshman, it wasn’t something Callahan expected.

“I didn’t think at the beginning of the season that I would be going to state,” Callahan said. “But when I got there it was really cool.”

With her dad, Duncan Callahan, as an assistant on the Cowboys’ coaching staff, Jordan raised her running game to new heights. Duncan was a professional ultra trail runner. He twice won the Leadville 100 and joked that it meant he “won seven grand and a free pair of socks.”

But he’s impressed with the way Jordan has embraced cross country training.

“She’s really training very wisely,” Duncan said. “She’s very prudent. She’s not training with too much volume or intensity. She has a very high ceiling and a great team around her.”

Said Davis of the honor: “It means a lot. It shows how impressive she was and how well she can do. We have a lot of real talent here in Colorado.”

Add Callahan to that list of ‘real talent,’ and probably keep her on it for the next three years.

(James Nokes writes for Colorado Preps.)