Part of a five-man pack separated by just 2.53 seconds at the Confluence Park finish line, Bayfield senior Sloan Mazur finished amongst the Class 3A-Region I Championships' top 15-clinching himself a starting-line spot this Saturday in Colorado Springs.
He'll be going it alone-the Wolverines as a team totaled 175 points last Friday and missed top-four status by seven points-at the 75th CHSAA Boys' Cross-Country State Championships, but just going at all is something Mazur's not discounting.
"I'm pretty stoked about it, you know?" he said. "I've been doing this for the past five years, and I'm really happy that I get to finish off my cross-country career like this."
Steadily increasing his pace after unluckily getting "boxed in" just after the start and finding himself rather far back in the field, Mazur ultimately passed Rifle's Jonny Hernandez and meet-hosting Delta's Shad Lewis just before running out of route and took 12th place in 17 minutes, 38.85 seconds.
There was still plenty of gas in the tank, too.
"The beginning was slow," Mazur recalled, "and then it got to the point where I was at the two-mile and everyone was looking dead. All the other runners, their shoulders were dropping, they were slouching, and I wasn't; I felt strong still. I realized I could really light it on fire!"
Had the course been even 25 feet longer, Mazur's closing kick may have also carried him past Granby Middle Park junior Brevik Petersen (17:38.66) and Gunnison junior Garrett Butts (17:38.20), and thus into the GHS-dominated top ten.
Which, in the elements, would have been an accomplishment in its own right.
"Normally, yeah, it's a race where you can just haul, but it was really windy," said Mazur. "And when it's really windy people say - when it's at your back- use it to your advantage; you can 'open sail' and let it carry you."
"But that's not really how it worked; the only time you really felt the wind was when it was blowing dirt in your face! The wind was ripping, and I knew that no one was going to be able to breathe well out there! J-Wal (head coach Josh Walton) even said this race wasn't going to be about speed; it was about strength and just outlasting the wind, being stronger than the guy next to you."
As it turned out, that meant even his teammates. Back after a couple weeks away from competition, sophomore Jonas Nanaeto took 27th (out of 112 total finishers) in 18:30.07 and fellow Ignacio High soph/BHS harrier Elco Garcia, Jr., placed 33rd in 18:45.96.
"During the race my Achilles was fine," Mazur said, addressing what had hampered him earlier this fall. "Slowly, but around halfway through the season, it got to the point where it really wasn't bothering me anymore."
"I passed Jonas - he looked like he was cramping - and I kept on going," Mazur continued, recognizing Nanaeto's improving times this season, "and was actually surprised to catch up with Elco. Something was bothering him with his legs. I don't know what, but I knew something was up. When I passed him, he told me, 'Go!'"
"That really meant a lot, and I did!"
Clocking a season-best 19:11.74, Bayfield senior Nathan Carlson came in 47th, and sophomore Rylan Ross rounded out the team's near-miss scoring quintet with a 56th-place 19:38.62. Freshman Xander Hovenstine also picked a good time for a season-best, with his 21:25.44 landing him 88th, and freshman Ethan Cook was 92nd in 21:40.83.
With five individuals, including winning junior Colton Stice (16:46.53), cracking the top ten, Gunnison won the team title with a meet-low 28 points. Coming south from Craig, and paced by runner-up junior Carter Severson (16:55.40) and two top-ten 'mates, Moffat County totaled a second-place 56.
Pagosa Springs' 114 points assured the Pirates of a team trip to Norris-Penrose Event Center, and Olathe's Pirates narrowly managed to deny BHS such an honor with a final score of 169.
"This week is going to be pretty chill; we're going to keep it pretty relaxed. I'm not going to lose anything, but I'm not going to gain anything either-just try to keep my body used to running," Mazur said, when asked about his final week of training for the grand finale.
"I think I'm at the best I can be. There's a little wear and tear - runner's pain - here and there, but nothing to make a big deal about. Nothing that's concerning me, that I can't run through."
The Class 3A Boys' State Championship is slated to start Saturday at 12:40 p.m.
In the girls' feature, Olivia Keitz again led th Wolverine trio with a 67th-place 24:34.10. Sarah Ruybal and Mylee Sanders also finished in fewer than 30 minutes, with Ruybal taking 90th in 27:02 flat and Sanders 96th in 29:12.40.
Steamboat Springs sophomore Maggi Congdon (18:38.40), junior Winter Boese (18:54.70) and senior Dasha Kuznetsova (19:17.10) finished 1-2-3, helping the Lady Sailors amass a regional-low 44 points. MCHS (74), GHS (88) and Aspen (92) also qualified as teams for State.
3A-REGION I BOYS' TEAM STANDINGS: 1.Gunnison 28, 2.Craig Moffat County 56, 3.Pagosa Springs 114, 4.Olathe 169, 5.BAYFIELD 175, 6.Steamboat Springs 177, 7.Delta 194, 8.Rifle 211, 9.Aspen 223, 10.Granby Middle Park 234, 11.Montezuma-Cortez 243, 12.Basalt 285, 13.Parachute Grand Valley 298, 14.New Castle Coal Ridge 335.
