After an unplanned week off of official racing, the Pagosa Springs High School Pirate cross-country team will be back in action on Friday for its final regular-season meet.
Following Friday’s meet, the Pirates will next take part in regionals on Oct. 24 in Colorado Springs, with the state meet following on Nov. 2.
While the Pirates originally planned to race at Mancos’ Chicken Creek Challenge last week, the team changed course after a land dispute in the area pushed Mancos to move its meet to the course of the Boggy Draw Bear Chase in Dolores.
Instead of attending the meet at its new location, the team stayed home to run time trials locally.
In the team’s newsletter, coach Rachael Christiansen explains, “this decision was done with the idea that we want faster courses towards the end of the season. Monte Vista is completely flat and regionals has 1 hill. We did our hard work on hills mid season, and this weekend we went for turnover and speed instead.”
The coach adds that, due to the long weekend and the fact the team didn’t have an actual race, numbers were low, but “those that did come out had a great workout and we saw some big improvements from a few!”
The coach notes Jesse Beck ran well, finishing first on the boys’ team with a time of just over 20 minutes.
“He has been having a hard time bouncing back from illness midseason, but this workout was one of his strongest since he first got sick in September,” she wrote.
Dylan Dempster followed, according to the coach, breaking 21 minutes for the first time ever and setting a new personal record (PR).
“Dylan has been to almost every practice all season and has been getting stronger and faster every week. It was exciting to see him earn a PR even without the excitement of a race and we can’t wait to see what he’s got in him over the next couple weeks,” Christiansen wrote.
Eli Nehring was the team’s third runner, with the coach noting he “had a solid speed workout” and should be ready to set a new PR this weekend after shaving about 30 seconds off his time.
Isaac Hanto broke 22 minutes for the first time ever, with Christiansen noting that, in addition to setting a new PR, he looked strong from the start.
“He’s another one who has been very consistent and those bricks we’ve been stacking throughout the season are about to pay off big time,” she wrote.
Weston Sweet also logged a fast time and put in a lot of work, the coach highlighted.
Only three Lady Pirates took part in the time trials, according to Christiansen.
Sienna Rose, she relays, ran her second-fastest time of the season despite being sick earlier in the week.
Madisen Stretton also ran her second-fastest time, according to the coach, and was 20 seconds off her PR.
Gwendolyn Tyler also ran her second-fastest time of the season, Christiansen reports.
“While we didn’t race, looking back on our choice to run a time trial in town, we are happy with it,” Christiansen wrote. “We had 2 PRs, a couple who were 30 seconds or less off of their PR, and just about everyone ran at least their 2nd fastest 5k ever. All in all, we are looking forward to this Friday and seeing the benefits of a few fast, hard workouts of recent weeks.”
On Friday, the Pirates will take part in the Eric Wolff Invitational in Monte Vista.
The Lady Pirates are slated to race at 10 a.m., followed by the Pirates at 10:45 a.m.
randi@pagosasun.com
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