The Durango High School boys and girls cross-country teams had a successful weekend at the Nike Desert Twilight Festival on Friday in Casa Grande, Arizona against elite national competition. The boys team came in third overall out of 30 teams with 167 points while the girls team registered 407 points, good enough for 14th overall out of 27.
The Demon boys were led by Aidan Fitzgerald, who crossed the finish line with a time of 15 minutes, 5.30 seconds for seventh overall. It was Fitzgerald’s lifetime personal best. Fitzgerald, a senior, broke a 31-year old school record by more than 20 seconds, which was previously set by Alex Accetta in 1987. The time was also the weekend’s 20th fastest 5-kilometer time in the country. Not far behind was Noah Bodewes, who ran 15:38.90 seconds for 21st overall. Marcus Flint was third for the Demons, finishing in 35th overall with a time of 15:53.00. All seven DHS runners broke personal bests in the race.
Head coach Ken Flint said that Fitzgerald “crushed it.”
“He had his game plan in mind and went out there and raced according to the plan,” Flint said. “He’s talented enough to do it and I’m really happy for him.”
While Flint was impressed with Fitzgerald’s performance, he still believes Durango has not yet reached its full potential.
“They ran well but their best race is yet to come,” Flint said. “We had some great individual performances, but I know we can run faster as a team.”
Rounding out the Demons scorers were Logan Moore, who ran 16:04.10 to take 58th overall, Luke Tichi ran 16:21.50, Teslin Stecher ran 16:23.70 and Pablo Smagacz ran 16:42.40.
With the impressive team score and based on the top five runners, Durango had the 17th best team score in the nation for Friday’s performance, registering 1,120 points total, with the team’s average time coming in at 15:48.56.
Valor Christian’s Cole Sprout ran the fastest 5K race in the nation at the Festival, with a time of 14.32.9. He was not the only runner from the state of Colorado to break the 15-minute barrier at the meet, as Niwot’s Cruz Culpepper ran the second fastest time in the nation with a 14:44. El Paso Eastwood took the team title by one point over Niwot, scoring 112 points while Niwot had 113.
On the girls side, Madeleine Burns finished 22nd overall for Durango with a time of 18 minutes, 4.90 seconds. Freshman Angela McManus was second on the team with a time of 19:37.80 and 81st overall. Meanwhile, Kiara Hamlin rounded out the top three with a time of 20:04.30 and took 105th place.
Quinn McConnell of Peak to Peak Charter School won the race with a time of 17:00.10, while Boise Senior High School dominated the field to win with 87 points.
The Demons also raced at the Warrior Lincoln Park Classic in Grand Junction on Friday.
The boys team finished in fifth overall with 136 points while the girls took second with 84 points.
On the girls side, Kayleigh Frazer took 10th overall with a time of 20:30.60 while Maddy Persing was right behind Frazer with a time of 20:33.80 and took 11th. Bekah Moenning was third for the Demons with a time of 20:58.60 and came in 15th.
Rebecca Hittle of Palisade won the meet in a time of 19:13.60 while Fruita Monument took the overall team title, registering 39 points.
In the boys race, a trio of Demons finished in almost identical times, as Paul Knight took 15th with a time of 17:21.10, Ethan Holst was 16th with a time of 17:21.40 and Land Lambert was right behind Holst with a time of 16:21.70, good enough for 17th.
David Cardenas of Grand Junction Central won the race with a time of 15:23.60 and Central also won the team title with 34 points.
Durango will race at the Ancient Trails Invite on Friday, hosted by Montezuma-Cortez. The starting time has not been announced.
bploen@durangoherald.com
