The Gunnison High School cross country team competed at the Warrior XC Invitational in Grand Junction on Friday, Oct. 9.
The race was held on Lincoln Park Golf Course and saw strong performances on both the girls and boys sides, noted head coach Blake Davis.
“I felt like the last two weeks were up and down for us with sickness and injuries with both the boys and the girls,” said Davis. “And we were really looking just to hopefully build something coming out of those messy middle weeks. And going down to Grand Junction, racing in a nice race was a great way to do that. The kids did great.”
Davis felt like the meet was a great step in the right direction as they gear up for the regional and state meets in the upcoming weeks.
Ari Eberly led the way for the boys team, placing 43rd overall with a time of 16:57.29. Brandon Hallock placed 73rd with a time of 17:24.87, Jesus Chona placed 97th with a time of 17:50.67, Ian Baker placed 115th with a time of 18:05.29 and Riego Koepsel placed 146th with a time of 18:56.10 to round out the top five scoring Cowboys.
Beck Schwab placed 169th with a time of 19:27.39, Houston Stair placed 171st with a time of 19:31.24 and Roman Loken placed 194th with a time of 20:30.47.
The boys placed 15th overall out of the 29 teams that competed with 437 points.
“Riego Koepsel did a great job,” said Davis. “He was coming off of sickness that whole week. And it was right within his times that he's been running at his best. So to be able to do that, coming off of sickness and not having a perfect week of practice is a testament to how mentally strong he is.”
Davis also shouted out the Cowboys’ top finisher Eberly, who had a personal best race by 10 seconds. Davis thinks those 10 seconds can be the difference between one and five points when it comes to regionals and state.
Elora Jones led the way for the girls with a 69th-place finish and a time of 20:52.04. Brooke Terry placed 100th with a time of 21:38.34, Lucy Orgill placed 106th with a time of 21:49.13, Autumn Terry placed 149th with a time of 24:00.78 and Kinley Dziekan placed 152nd with a time of 24:09.10 to round out the top five scoring girls.
Caris Storkel placed 157th with a time of 24:36.91, Mila Jorgenson-Clair placed 159th with a time of 24:37.93 and Sophie Nold placed 181st with a time of 29:39.69.
The girls placed 21st out of the 24 teams that competed with a score of 529.
“Elora Jones did a great job of running about what she's been running,” said Davis. “She's been extremely consistent all year long and getting down here to the end of the season. And if you're still consistent with where you were at the beginning of the season, that’s hard to do. And she's been doing a great job with that.”
Davis also shouted out Orgill, who had been dealing with sickness and injury in the past couple weeks, but was able to move up in the pack in Grand Junction.
The Cowboys will head to Monte Vista on Friday, Oct. 16, for the Eric Wolff Invitational, their final regular season meet before regional and state meets.
“What we're looking for is, are we looking sharp going into regional week?,” said Davis. “Meaning, are we finally healthy? Are we finally not sick? And just trying to get them as best prepared for that so we can have a positive race going into regionals. Because it's a lot easier to have a good race coming off of a good race.”
The top four teams at regionals go to the state meet. Right now the girls side is ranked second and the boys are right on the bubble, sitting at fifth.
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