Alumni in Action: former Eagle County harriers compete in NCAA conference championships
Liv Moritz guides DU into Summit League soccer championships while Ione Pedersen and Kevin Hasley continue stellar freshman seasons
Boise State Athletics/Courtesy photo
The idea of traveling to higher altitude for a championship race would have been a fairly novel concept for Jake Drever during his stellar Eagle Valley running career. Last Saturday, however, the Boise State sophomore flew into Colorado Springs for the Mountain West Championships, and admitted coming up from 2,700 feet in Boise to just over 6,000 feet got to him a bit.
“Before the race, I was shivering, kind of dry-heaving,” he said, describing his brief bout of altitude sickness. “So, (the race) was a little brutal but it was still really fun. Our team did really well.”
Drever finished 54th in the highly-competitive 74-athlete field, which featured the No. 6-ranked University of New Mexico. The Lobos swept the top-5 slots to record a perfect score, led by individual national title favorite Habtom Samuel, who covered the 8-kilometer course in 23 minutes, 20.7 seconds. Boise State University finished in fourth as a team.
While Drever’s 27:11.1 wasn’t his best mark of the year — he ran 25:11.8 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite on Oct. 4 — he said the season has gone well in general. Hip flexor issues forced him to redshirt his freshman campaign, but Drever said he’s thriving under the training of new coach Pat McCurry.
“I feel like I’m a lot stronger,” he said, adding that he’s still figuring out the collegiate cross-country distance.
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“I haven’t been able to put together a full 8k yet,” he continued. “The difference between a 5k and an 8k is very different. You’re running for so much longer.”
Drever was one of a handful of former Eagle County prep runners who competed at respective NCAA conference championships over the weekend. His former Battle Mountain rival, Will Brunner, was the fifth-man for Harvard at the Ivy League championships in Princeton, New Jersey. Brunner’s former teammate, Milaina Almonte, placed 64th at the West Coast Conference championships at Micke Grove Links in Lodi, California. Almonte, who completed the 6-kilometer course in a time of 22 minutes, 51.2 seconds, said her second conference meet was “a huge learning experience.”
“I took some risks and didn’t quite have the race I was hoping for but, with a couple of new teams added to the WCC, I made the most of the opportunity to race in high stakes with top collegiate runners,” said Almonte, who was dealing with some “small injuries” coming into the race. “I learned a lot about where I am mentally while racing and where I want to be.”
More than half of the Broncos’ roster are freshman. Santa Clara’s young roster has been packed closely in all of their events. At the WCC meet, the top-7 spread was just 56 seconds.
“So, each race has been a building block and a promising indicator of what we have in store for the next couple of years,” Almonte continued. “I’ve been super lucky to be a part of this team. We run really well together because we all want one another to succeed and we race for each other. We are all super close, and I am so lucky to have their support, my coaches, and my family and friends back home as well.”
Almonte — who represented the U.S. at the U20 World Mountain and Trail Running championships in 2023 and was an all-state runner during her decorated four-year varsity career with the Huskies — was the Broncos’ No. 1 runner at the Roy Griak Invitational in September and the fourth runner at the team’s home invite last month. The former Battle Mountain runner will turn her focus to the NCAA West Regionals in Colfax, Washington on Nov. 15.
“Going into regionals, I am super excited to be running with my friends and I know that we have put so much into this team and have so much to show,” she said. “It’s all about putting those last pieces into place and having confidence going into the race.”
Drever has been hovering around the ninth spot on his team for most of the year. The top-8 runners travel — which means he likely won’t be competing at the regional meet. But, he’s already amped for the upcoming indoor track season. Drever’s end goal is still to break four minutes in the mile.
“If I can do that, that would be awesome,” he said.
Other alumni in action
- Liv Moritz and the No. 2-seeded University of Denver women’s soccer team (11-5-2 overall, 5-1-2 league) will face No. 3 South Dakota State (13-4-2 overall, 5-2-1 league) in the Summit League semifinals at Dacotah Field in Fargo, North Dakota on Thursday at noon. Moritz notched a goal against South Dakota State on Oct. 24 to guide the Pioneers to a 2-1 win. The Vail Mountain alumna tallied an assist in the Pioneers’ season finale win at South Dakota on Oct. 27 as well, finishing her sophomore season with five goals and one assist. No. 1 seed North Dakota State University faces No. 5 Oral Roberts in the other semifinal.
- Ione Pedersen recorded six kills to guide Gettysburg College to a 3-0 win over Bryn Mawr on Saturday, pushing her season total to 73. The Eagle Valley alumna has helped the Bullets to a 21-4 overall record. Gettysburg ends the regular season on Saturday against Washington (Maryland) and begins the Centennial Conference Tournament on Nov. 13.
- Former Eagle Valley football and track star Kevin Hasley recorded a season-high five tackles in McPherson College’s 59-7 win over Bethany (Kansas) on Oct. 26. McPherson has won eight games in a row and improved to 8-1 on the year, tops in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
