Durango High School’s boys and girls cross country teams will be in the spotlight, literally, Friday night.
It has been over two years since the Demons ran a home meet in Durango, and the return of one of the top teams in the state will be something special – a night race at Hillcrest Golf Club.
The Southwest Sunset XC Classic is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and is expected to culminate with a 9 p.m. boys varsity race in which the course will only be illuminated by spotlights and glow sticks.“The race falls on a night where there’s virtually no moonlight, so I expect it to be a visual feeding frenzy with the kids disappearing into the darkness and reappearing in the light,” said Durango head coach David McMillan. “The people at Hillcrest, Will Herz, Ken Kirby and their crew have been so supportive, and they’ve done a great job making this happen.”
The boys team is an experienced squad that won its first two meets of the season. Seniors Benjamin Lachelt and Nick Turco have led the way thus far for a very strong Demons team loaded with depth. In the last race, DHS had five runners finish in the top ten. Lachelt (2) and Turco (3) were followed by Jordan Helms (4), David Moenning (7), and William Chandler (9).
“The ultimate goal is obviously to win state but, really, we just want to have fun together,” said Lachelt, son of Gwen Lachelt and Trisha Rickey. “We’re a close group and we’ve been together for a long time. so I guess what we all want is just to enjoy this season to the fullest.”
McMillan has placed a heavy emphasis on the concept of running as a team, and it doesn’t take very long to see this group is fully invested in the success of each runner.
“Our team is really strong in a lot of ways, and we’re a cohesive group,” said Turco, son of Jack and Jennifer Turner and Richard Turco. “My expectations for this team are very high because we have great trust in each other, and we all want our teammates to do as well as possible.”
As the experienced boys team makes a run at the state title, a young DHS girls team is following in their footsteps. They finished 4th in their last meet behind strong efforts from Sarah Smagacz (12), Anna Smagacz (22), Mary Fenberg (26), Emily Edwards-Colsman (31), and Allee McKown (41).“We have a good, new, fresh bunch of girls who are really excited about running,” McMillan said. “They’ve really bought into the team concept after seeing the success the boys have had, and they’re there now.”The girls varsity race is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m.
If you go
Who: Alamosa, Aztec, Bayfield, Center, Montezuma-Cortez, Dolores, Durango, Farmington, Monticello, Pagosa Springs, Sargent.
What: High school cross country
Where: Hillcrest Golf Club, Durango
Schedule: Middle school girls, 6 p.m.; middle school boys, 6:30 p.m.; junior varsity girls, 7 p.m.; JV boys 7:30 p.m.; community 5K, 8 p.m.; varsity girls, 8:30 p.m.; varsity boys, 9 p.m.
More Info: Fans are asked to park at Fort Lewis College and enter through the Southwest corner of the golf course; Hillcrest Golf Club will close to the public at 3 p.m., including the driving range and clubhouse.
Durango Herald
