Runners from Durango High School headed to the Garmin RunningLane Cross-country Championships on Saturday in Huntsville, Alabama, looking to run some fast times.
Rain, however, turned the course into a muddy mess and slowed all of the runners down. The Demons still had some strong results in the stacked field, but were unable to set new personal records.
“It was a train wreck,” coach Ron Keller said. “I was pleased with their times based on the conditions of the course, but had it been a dry course, we would have gotten some PRs.”
Keller noted that 73 boys finished the race in under 15 minutes last year, which is what his top three boys were aiming for on Saturday, but no one in the entire field broke 15 minutes this year.
The runners were placed in divisions based on their fastest times heading into the championships.
Senior Willow Lott and sophomore Luke Swenk both represented Durango in the competition’s gold races.
Swenk finished the 5K in 16 minutes and 31 seconds, placing 147th in his race and 198th overall out of the 1,693 boys who competed over the weekend.
Lott finished 39th out of 268 runners in the gold girls 5K in 18:41. Out of the 812 girls who competed in the Alabama, Lott’s time was the 42nd fastest overall. “She did pretty darn good,” Keller said. “If she had run in another race, she would have had a shot of winning it.”
Two other Durango sophomore girls ran in the silver girls 5K. Brynn Aggeler finished 63rd in 19:39, just one second off her pace at Nike NXR two weeks ago in Arizona, while Dewa Ilg crossed 120th in 20:13.
Juniors Charlie Dillman and Nathaniel Ellis both ran in the bronze boys 5K.
“I told them it doesn’t matter what race you’re in, it’s better just to go out and have a steady pace,” Keller said.
Dillman ended up running the fastest time for Durango at the event, crossing 16th in the bronze race and 119th overall, in 16:03, also one second off his NXR pace.
Ellis placed 75th in 16:41. In the 10 seconds that separated Swenk and Ellis, however, nearly 100 runners finished so Ellis ended up 395th overall.
Junior Hudson Curry, meanwhile, finished the red boys race in 19:15. Curry had missed some workouts recently while nursing an injury, but still wanted to compete in Alabama. “He was really improving so I’m looking forward to what he can do in track,” Keller said.
Steven West of Sandia, New Mexico, won the boy’s gold race in 15:09.
Payton Godsey of Westlake Village (California) won the gold girls 5K in 17:28.
“Overall it was a pretty good showing for us,” Keller said. “Everyone was in the same boat, it was just an unfortunate day for weather.”
The coach was also encouraged with the number of runners interested in competing at the championship, up from two last year.
“Now we have good numbers going down; hopefully it will grow again next year,” Keller said. “I always tell them, ‘You don’t win championships during the season, you win them in the offseason.’”
