After a week off, the Gunnison High School cross country team traveled east to Salida for the Salida High Mountain Desert Twilight on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Salida, which has hosted a meet consecutively for 20 years, had to change up its course this year and opted to host a twilight meet for the first time. Gunnison head coach Blake Davis felt that even though the change of structure can also be an issue, his team took the change in stride.
“A lot of times when you are racing at night or the longer end of the day you race, the harder it is to take care of your body and make sure you're feeling good to race,” said Davis. “And a lot of our kids had PRs or close to PRs and they ran really well for the structure of the day changed.”
Davis emphasized that the team was excited to race at twilight and it showed in their energy during warmups.
“They shot out of the starting line,” said Davis. “It was pretty fun to watch.”
Ari Eberly led the way for the boys, placing 17th with a time of 17:19.00. Right behind him was Brandon Hallock, who placed 24th with a time of 17:50.00. Jesus “Chuy” Chona placed 38th with a time of 18:32.00, Ian Baker placed 46th with a time of 18:56.00 and Riego Koepsel placed 55th with a time of 19:25.00 to round out the top five scoring Cowboys.
Beck Schwab placed 75th with a time of 20:10.00, Houston Stair placed 77th with a time of 20:12.00, Roman Loken placed 105th with a time of 21:21.00, Jack Siegrist placed 112th with a time of 21:58.00 and Casen Foltz placed 134th with a time of 26:24.00.
The boys placed fifth out of the 13 teams that scored with 145 points.
After the race, Davis highlighted the performances of Eberly and Chona specifically.
“They've been rolling, and as we're getting further into the season, they're getting stronger and stronger,” said Davis. “And I feel like they're really starting to come to their best running at the right time.”
The girls team was led by Elora Jones, who placed sixth overall with a time of 20:37.00. Right behind her was Brooke Terry, who placed 26th with a time of 22:26.00. Sophie Nold placed 28th with a time of 22:30.00, Lucy Orgill placed 31st with a time of 22:41.00 and Emma Carr placed 37th with a time of 23:28.00 to round out the top five scoring girls.
Autumn Terry placed 42nd with a time of 23:57.00 and Kinley Dziekan placed 45th with a time of 24:13.00.
The girls placed fourth out of the seven schools that scored with 111 points.
Davis mentioned that the girls team was dealing with injuries and sickness going around and some of the top girls were missing in Salida. He was impressed by the girls that did race though.
“There were a lot of our B-Squad girls that had been working hard all season, but they really moved up well throughout the pack,” said Davis. “And it's creating a lot of depth for our team right now, which is wonderful this time of season because when injuries do pop up, you don't know who you're going to have necessarily at the end of the season.”
Davis emphasized that Autumn Terry and Dziekan both ran great races and finished with personal best times.
Up next, the Cowboys will head to Grand Junction for the Warrior XC Invitational at Lincoln Park on Friday, Oct. 9. Like this past weekend, the races will be held in the evening, which Davis emphasized will help the team keep the preparation the same.
“It's exciting because a lot of those girls that were sick coming off of injury are starting to get back into it now,” said Davis. “So we're just planning on being as healthy as we can be at this point in time of season for both boys and girls. And just be ready to run fast times because it is a fast course.”
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