After Durango High School’s boys cross country team won the Colorado High School Activities Association’s Class 4A state championship, it was only a matter of time before the postseason accolades started pouring in.
Thursday, Demons’ head coach David McMillan was named the Class 4A Coach of the Year and three of his runners were given All-State honors.
Benjamin Lachelt, who finished fifth individually at state, was named to both the CHSAA and Colorado MileSplit 4A All-State First Team. Lachelt’s teammates David Moenning and Nicholas Turco were named to the second team by MileSplit.
“That’s pretty cool,” McMillan said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Any honor I receive is simply a reflection of how hard the kids worked and the help I received from the coaching staff.”
According to McMillan, Lachelt’s progression from his freshman year until the memorable state title run is nothing short of “meteoric.” He cut 30-45 seconds off his times each year and when the others saw the progress Lachelt was making, they pushed themselves even harder.
David Moenning played football his freshman year but found great success as a track and field competitor. When he committed to cross country, it took awhile for him to get settled in. Moenning ran well as a junior and made it onto the state team, but it wasn’t until late in his senior season that he realized his full potential.
Moenning finished 10th for the Demons at the state meet last weekend.
“David became a believer after the regional race this year,” McMillan said. “When I told him that he outran Joe Maloney’s time, it surprised him, and I think a light turned on for him.”
Maloney was an inspiration for the state champs. He graduated in 2013 and paved the way for the young group to push themselves in an effort to live up to what he did at Durango.
Maloney wasn’t the only one who the kids looked up to. Fellow teammate Nicholas Turco was always the one who pushed the others athletically and mentally.
Turco placed 14th in the state championship meet.
“You can’t talk about the success of this team without talking about Nick,” McMillan said. “He’s always been the benchmark for this group athletically, but his quiet, confident demeanor and his leadership is something that always pulled us through.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
