Cross Country Narrowly Misses State at Regionals
October 31, 2017
The Manitou Springs High School (MSHS) Cross Country team ran Regionals at Shining Mountain Golf Course in Woodland Park. Going in with high expectations, Naiya Budler (12) was focused on the team making state. “We really need to put our best performances today because there are really, really tough teams in our division,” Budler said.
The top four teams of the meet, two boys’ teams and two girls’ teams, qualify for State, which is held at Penrose Event Center later in the month. The Manitou Girls’ team placed 8th overall.
The top girl was from Colorado Springs Christian School (CSCS) and ran a time of 20:19.40. Manitou’s fastest girl runner was Dana Gutierrez (9), placing 37th with a final time of 24:26.30, closely followed by Braeden Lewis (12), placing 40th with 24:36.40. After that, Budler placed 49th, Lizzy Anderson (12) placed 55th and Sarah Prather (11) placed 58th.
For the boys’ division, the fastest runner was from Lamar High School and ran 17:10.90. From MSHS, Max Cannarella (10) placed first on the Manitou team, placing 39th overall with a time of 19:55.10. Noah Sobeck (12) placed 43rd with a 21 flat. Next, Brendan Clark (11) placed 69th, Patrick Ortiz (12) placed 72nd and Liam Davidson (10) placed 77th.
The Classical Academy (TCA) and Alamosa High School swept the field with their boys’ teams, placing 1st and 2nd respectively, with the MSHS Boys’ team placing 9th.
Sobeck, the captain for the boys’ team, was proud of all the performances regardless of the result of the meet. “It was a tough course and it’s been a tough season, but we all pulled through and everyone tried their hardest,” Sobeck said.
