Eagle Valley boys and Battle Mountain girls punch tickets to state cross-country meet
Summit swept the 4A Region 1 cross-country team titles, but the Huskies and Devils came in second in the respective girls and boys races
The No. 5-ranked Eagle Valley boys did all they could to defend their 4A region cross-country title and the Battle Mountain girls put forth a valiant upset attempt, but in the end, Summit was too strong.
“Our goal was stay as close as we could and make it a battle,” Devils coach Melinda Brandt said after her boys team finished nine points behind the Tigers on Friday in Arvada. The Eagle Valley boys and Battle Mountain girls both punched their tickets to the 4A state cross-country meet next weekend in Colorado Springs as Summit swept the boys and girls team and individual titles.
“It has been a good season,” Summit star Ella Hagen told the Summit Daily after covering the 5-kilometer course at North Area Athletic Complex 1 minute and 38 seconds faster than the next best athlete. Summit tallied 39 points to finish in front of fellow state-qualifying squads Battle Mountain (59), Conifer (74) and Grand Junction (84).
“We have been racing and training hard,” Hagen continued. “Everyone is feeding off of each other at this point.”
Josh Shriver holds off Blair twins to win regional title
After blasting the first mile in 4:52 and coming through the second in 9:40, Summit senior Josh Shriver pulled away (15:22.4) from Eagle Valley’s dynamic duo of Dylan (15:33.4) and Tyler (15:44.2) Blair in the final third of the race. While the Devils’ first three crossed before the Tigers’ did — with Jackson Filmore (16:38.8) coming in 12th — Summit poured in the rest of their varsity seven into the top 20.
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“I think our boys are always putting their best foot forward and Summit just came out ahead,” Brandt said before praising her seniors, Blake Anderson — a 400-meter sprint specialist in track — and Filmore, a four-year state meet participant.
“He has put in a lot of work to be as good as he is in cross-country,” she said of Anderson, who ran 17:08.7 to finish 21st. “Jackson has just been a stalwart for us the last four years. Those two guys had fantastic races.” Dual-sport Eric Asselin (17:19.6) rounded out Eagle Valley’s scoring in 24th, a week after leading the Devils at the state mountain biking championships.
Nate Beuche finished 23rd to guide Battle Mountain to a seventh-place team finish. The sophomore ignored his No. 21 pre-meet ranking, yo-yoing between 17th and 20th and cresting one of the larger hills in 16th, but ultimately couldn’t hang on.
“He did a good job,” Parish said. “This group of guys overachieved. I was really impressed with how they performed.” Parish credited senior Adam Labenski and junior Gabe Dozois for buying into the belief that a top-four finish was possible.
“They didn’t want their season to end,” Parish continued, adding that the future — with several freshmen making regional debuts, plus a stellar upcoming middle school group — looks bright. “They’re hungry, they’re excited, they’ve had exposure already — they’re going to be monsters.”
Battle Mountain girls take down No. 2 team Colorado
No. 9 Battle Mountain came into the girls race as the third-best team in the region behind No. 4 Summit and No. 2 Conifer. At the Liberty Bell Invitational in September, Conifer’s top-5 were a collective 4 minutes and 57 seconds ahead of Battle Mountain’s. Despite the seemingly long odds, Parish said veteran leader Ruthie Demino set a top-dog tone before the gun.
“(She) was like, ‘listen, we try and win this every year. We’re not trying to go here and get third,'” Parish said.
The Huskies bolted off the line, piling six into the top-15 by the first mile. Summit’s discipline, however, slowly paid off. The Tigers put four in the top-11 slots as the Husky trio of Caroline Provencher, Isla Elton and Demino finished 12-13-14. Freshman Eden Demino — one of seven athletes making their first region start — led the Huskies in sixth and Larsen Middaugh rounded out the scoring in 19th. The time gap with Conifer? This time, Battle Mountain finished 36 seconds ahead.
“The girls were locked in. They were great,” Parish said after watching his girls’ group qualify for state for the 20th time in 21 seasons. “That shows how well they ran and how far the team has developed.”
Eagle Valley placed ninth, with senior Ginger Reilly coming within four seconds of a season best (20:45.8), a remarkable feat considering how lightly she’s raced while dealing with a nagging injury.
“That was a testament to her heart and grit,” Brandt said of the senior, who was 28th overall. “She’s a great leader, great teammate and really has the biggest heart.”
Lucita Stowell (21:32.1) ran a season best and Jada Cobb (22:23.4) went under the 23-minute barrier for the first time as three Devils posted personal records. Brandt said the young group, which only loses Reilly to graduation, is slowly learning the benefits of consistent training over time.
“I think a theme on the girls side is to be grateful with where we’re at, to embrace the process, but also to see how strong we can get,” she said.
Going into state, Timnath — last year’s sixth-place finisher in 3A — is technically No. 1 on the girls side, but Parish believes Summit is the favorite to win it all. Considering Summit and Battle Mountain’s rosters are both stacked with underclassmen, Friday’s meet might have been the first of a series of postseason clashes.
“It will be great,” Parish said of the budding rivalry. “It’s been so fun to watch Ella (Hagen) … to think of Eagle and Summit County as the epicenter distance running in Colorado is pretty exciting.”
On the boys side, Cheyenne Mountain and Coronado seem likely to battle for the top prize, but Brandt’s group will be gunning for another top-5 finish and is looking forward to a final shot at Summit.
“They’re not out of reach,” Brandt said. “I 100% think we can beat them. We’re going to really fine-tune this next, and I think the boys will be feeling even more fresh when Saturday comes.”