Despite flooding in Pagosa Springs, the Pagosa Springs High School Pirates hosted the Colorado 3A Region 2 meet on Thursday, Oct. 22.
The Pirate cross-country teams welcomed nine teams from their region to compete, with a trip to the state championship meet on the line. The top four teams in both the boys’ and girls’ races would qualify, along with the top 15 individual finishers in each race.
Head coach Josh Kurz and his team of coaches and volunteers were able to catch a break in the weather on Thursday morning and run both races.
Unfortunately, even though both teams improved their finish from last year’s regional meet, they each placed fifth and failed to qualify for state.
“We believe we had the talent to qualify, but injuries and a couple of fluke events played a major role in Thursday’s outcome,” wrote Kurz in an email to the SUN. “We hope being one place away from qualifying will fuel our team to train harder, especially during the summer.”
Weston Sweet led the way for the Pirates at the meet, finishing ninth overall with a time of 17 minutes, 45.27 seconds. Behind him was Rylan Ash, who placed 14th with a time of 18:01.12.
Jacen Easling placed 23rd with a time of 18:47.97, Miles Dempster placed 29th with a time of 19:14.31, and Hawkin Kofke placed 34th with a time of 19:38.67 to round out the top-five scoring Pirates at the meet.
Kieran Kurz placed 39th with a time of 19:50.91, Liam McKnight placed 43rd with a time of 20:01.20, Wells Witting placed 56th with a time of 20:59.58, and Silas Yost placed 59th with a time of 21:29.96.
The boys placed fifth out of the nine teams from their region competing with 103 points. They scored nine more points than fourth-place Gunnison.
Both Sweet and Ash qualified for the state meet with their individual performances at regionals.
Madi Stretton led the way for the Lady Pirates with a 15th-place finish and a time of 21:54.21.
Behind her was Bella Jackson, who placed 17th with a time of 22:11.75. Lucy Rivera placed 25th with a time of 23:07.42, Olivia Diffey placed 28th with a time of 23:20.49, and Elsy Wood placed 43rd with a time of 25:36.17 to round out the top-five scoring Lady Pirates at the meet.
Isabelle Ratcliff placed 47th with a time of 26:17.97, Adelaide Oelking placed 52nd with a time of 27:21.97, and Skylar Leiker placed 56th with a time of 28:25.13.
The girls placed fifth out of the seven teams competing from their region with 105 points. They scored six more points than fourth-place Alamosa.
In her senior year, Stretton qualified for the state meet with her 15th-place performance on Thursday.
“We are super excited that the season continues for 3 of our athletes,” wrote Josh Kurz. “Madi, Weston, and Rylan earned the opportunity to compete Saturday at the State Championship in Colorado Springs!”
The meet will be on Saturday, Oct. 31, and will be held at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
The 3A girls’ race will kick off at 9 a.m., while the 3A boys’ race will start at 10:20 a.m.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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