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Durango cross country teams punch tickets back to state

Gallegos runs big race for boys

A regional championship was in the forecast for the Durango Demons, but not even they could predict how well the girls team would do Friday.

The Durango High School cross country teams traveled to Widfield for the 4A Region 5 championships with the goal of qualifying for the state championships. The boys and girls teams did just that, as the girls claimed the regional championship and the boys placed second.

The girls team dominated, winning with 26 points. Second-place Cheyenne Mountain was well behind with 73 points, and Widefield took third with 110.

“The big story for us was we had two freshmen jump into the top 10,” DHS head coach David McMillan said, noting Madeline Burns’ third-place run and Kiara Hamlin’s eighth-place finish. I don’t think we were expecting this dominant of a performance at this level.”

Abby Scott led the Demons with a second-place finish in 20 minutes, 47 seconds. The meet was won by Cañon City’s Elinor Enderle, who finished in 20:40.

Burns finished in the same time as Scott. Anna Smagacz took sixth in 21:15, Bekah Moenning was seventh in 21:24 and Hamlin crossed eighth in 21:27. Saylor Stottlemeyer, another freshman, took 13th in 21:47, and Maggie Wigton was 15th in 22:10. Mary Fenberg was also in the top 20 for DHS in 22:10.

The boys team scored 62 points, as Widefield won as a team with 46 points. Cheyenne Mountain was third with 75. DHS was led by Harry Steinberg’s fifth-place time of 17:10. Coltin Gallegos (17:31), Aidan Fitzgerald (17:32) and Marcus Flint (17:51) finished 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively, and Sam Dippoid cracked the top 20 in 18th with a time of 18:07.

Pablo Smagacz also took 26th for DHS in 18:36, and Logan Moore crossed 29th in 18:43. Ethan Holst and Finn Hopkins both finished in 19:11 to finished 41st and 42nd, respectively.

The boys team will go back to state as the defending champions.

“The boys group was in a fight to make it to state, and it didn’t look like those pieces were in place a few weeks ago,” McMillan said. “Coltin Gallegos ran the race of his life and was the key for this team. He got out with the lead group and was right there for a long time.”

The state championships will be contested Oct. 29 in Colorado Springs.

Herald sports writer Joe Fries contributed to this report.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com

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