The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate cross-country team kicked off its season at the Durango XC Relay Carnival on Aug. 30, with coach Josh Kurz indicating the team accomplished exactly what he was hoping it would.
Kurz explained prior to the meet that it would be unlike the team had done before, with coed relay teams each alternating running 1 mile until they’ve covered 8 miles collectively.
“So it’s basically four, one-mile repeats and you get to rest while your partner is running their mile,” he explained prior to the meet.
The top five coed relay teams for each school scored points for the team.
“The Relay Carnival was a great event, and it accomplished exactly what I was hoping for,” Kurz wrote in an email following the event. “Today was our hardest workout of the week, thanks to the competition and spectators. We often do mile repeats during practice, but I think the race environment caused our athletes to run 20-30 seconds faster per mile than if we had done the workout alone. I’m super proud of everyone for pushing their boundaries!”
Kurz also notes some of the day’s highlights for the Pirates, including that Rylan Ash’s first mile “was incredible,” coming in at five minutes, seven seconds, and that his overall time, 22:23 for the 4 miles, was “awesome.”
Kurz also highlights that Eli Nehring “was solid and maintained the most consistent pace,” with Nehring running a time of 24:17.
“Kieran [Kurz] nearly ran a [personal record, PR] on his first mile and toughed out the remaining miles,” the coach wrote.
Kieran Kurz ran an overall time of 25:02, with his first mile being 6:01.
“Weston [Sweet] stepped up and showed his potential, and ran a really impressive last mile,” the coach added.
Sweet ran an overall time of 25:11.
Dylan Dempster ran a time of 25:25.
“Dylan ran a fast first mile and maintained a consistent pace for the rest of the workout,” Josh Kurz wrote.
Sweet’s first mile came in at 6:05.
Stetson Osborn ran a total time of 26:25, with the coach noting, “Stetson was the only person whose last mile was their fastest mile (that’s tough to do).”
Osborn’s first mile was 6:36, while his last was 6:29.
“Jacen [Easling] may have set a PR on his first mile, which impacted his middle miles, but he had a strong finish on his last mile,” the coach wrote.
Easling logged an overall time of 26:39.
Liam McKnight ran an overall time of 26:59.
“Liam was hardly sweating on miles 1-3 but finished with a solid last mile, which tells me he has a lot more potential,” Josh Kurz points out.
Lily DeClark ran a time of 27:57, with the coach stating, “Lily got in shape in a hurry and finished with a solid last mile and great overall time.”
Kaiya Lyons and Madi Stretton both ran times of 28:32, with the coach highlighting, “Kaiya and Madi continue to be in lock-step, both running fast first miles and holding tough till the end.”
Lyons’ first mile was 6:51, with Stretton’s coming in at 6:47.
The coach noted Mile Miller battled pain throughout the day, but held out long enough for her partner, Dempster, to finish his fourth mile.
She ended the day with a time of 25:34 with 3 miles completed.
Josh Kurz also notes the team missed having several members at the meet, and that the team is looking forward to running with a full squad this weekend.
“We’re especially excited about the pack of boys that we have,” he notes. “We have a lot of depth, and this group will push each other to new heights.”
This weekend, the Pirate squads will head to Alamosa for the Joe Vigil Invitational on Sept. 6, where the Lady Pirates are set to run at 9:40 a.m., followed by the Pirates at 10:15 a.m.
Kurz notes the meet, held at Cattails Golf Course, will be the team’s “largest, fastest, and most competitive meet till regionals.”
randi@pagosasun.com
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