Everything seems to be simplifying for Bayfield High School cross country runner Trevor Gabbard.
He’ll be the only Wolverine representing gold and purple at the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A Boys Cross Country State Championships at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Norris Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs.
That means he’s garnered BHS head coach Josh Walton’s full attention since the regional meet ended Saturday.
“It’s a little bit odd. I’ve done it, but it’s a little bit different having the one athlete,” Walton said earlier this week. “It doesn’t really change how I would approach it if it was the team or if it was the individual.”
BHS brought 12 athletes last year after winning two individual regional titles and two team titles.
That squad lost three seniors on the girls side, including the eventual and multiple state champion Eva-Lou Edwards, and two seniors from the boys side. Injuries hurt the Wolverines’ girls team this season, while the boys team featured a young lineup, which led to Gabbard’s solo qualification.
“It’s weird; I’m not gonna lie,” said Gabbard, son of Joe and Kelly Gabbard. “I’m used to having all my friends and stuff, but I guess I get more focus on me.”
Gabbard, a senior, placed runner-up at the regional meet last weekend to qualify for state. He was the two-time defending regional champion, but his coaches decided he should take that race light so he could seriously contend for the state championship.
“It would have been cool for him to be a three-time regional champion, but he also understands that he didn’t need to do that,” Walton said. “His goal is to win a state title, not win the regional title.”
There will be 298 others trying to do the same thing, though.
Walton wants Gabbard to stay with the lead pack early and push between the 2½-mile mark and the finish.
Not a problem, Gabbard said: “No matter how hard I push myself, I always have a kick at the end.”
kgrabowski@ durangoherald.com
