On Thursday, Oct. 16, the Cougar Cross country teams competed in the Colorado Springs Metro League Championships and came out with the girls taking first place over Pine Creek. The Boys also ran hard, finishing with a 2nd place score.

Chloe Cassens, 10, lead the Girls varsity team finishing in 5th place with a time of 20:25. Madeline Morland, 9, followed closely behind in 6th place, finishing up with a time of 20:26. Elana Muzzy, 10, also did very well finishing in 9th place with a time of 20:38. Faith Roth, 9, came in in 11th place, finishing with a time of 20:59. Despite running without one of their top runners, Taylor Dutton, 10, the Cougars managed to hold off Pine Creek’s top five girls by 2 points.

Coach Stoughton was very impressed with how the girls responded, “With Taylor out with an injury, Lindsey Murray really stepped up for the race. Without her great effort, the team would not have beaten Pine Creek.” Murray, 10, finished in 18th place.

The boy’s teams also performed very well claiming 2nd place for Coronado. Nicholas Vai, 11, came in 5th place, finishing with a time of 17:15. Michel Swanson, 11, finished in 7th place with a time of 17:32. The only team better than the Cougars that day was Rampart, one of the top ranked teams in the state.

The girls JV team had many top finishers. Allison Hill, 12, won the JV race in a time of 22:20. Shauna Mackay, 9, led the rest of the team in, finishing in 3rd place with a time 23:02. Jaqueline Godec, 11, followed closely behind, claiming 4th place, with a finishing time of 23:07. Alese Abitia, 11, finished in 6th place with a final time of 23:13. Lauren Hugill, 11, followed closely on Abitia’s heels, finishing in 6th place with a time of 23:23. Rebekah Tonnessen, 12, finished in 7th place, with a time of 23:25.

Ben Swanson, 9, on the JV team also did very well, finishing in 4th place with a time of 19:04. When interviewed, Swanson was able to provide some insights as to how he thought the race went, and his view on the upcoming championship, “Our team did very well, the competition itself was difficult but not impossible by any means think that our team will perform well at the next meet.”

The JV teams wrap up their season on Wednesday at Monument Valley Park at the El Paso County JV Open Championships, and the Varsity team heads to compete in the Regional Championships at Rock Canyon High School, on Thursday. The top five teams in the Regional meet qualify for the State Meet at Bear Creek Park on Oct. 31.