In the third varsity race of the 2016-2017 Coronado cross-country season, Coronado’s men’s and women’s cross country teams faced their staunchest competition of the season so far, finishing 14th and 9th at the St. Vrain Cross Country Meet in Lyons, Colorado.

“Well, you know, sometimes you get down, but these kids are going to bounce back, I know they are,” said head cross country coach Doug Hugill.

The Cougars were not only challenged by the course’s length and some of the state’s foremost 3A, 4A and 5A cross country teams, but by absent/ill runners, including Coronado top-three girls varsity runner Chloe Cassens, 11, sick and not competing in the Sept. 10 meet.

Spearheading this week’s girls varsity run was Taylor Dutton, 11, and Madeline Morland, 10, running a 20:18 and 20:19 respectively over the 5000 meter course, and finishing the event in 40th and 41st places. Less than twenty seconds later, Faith Roth, 10, and Grace Abernethy, 9, crossed the finish line, in 51st and 57th place, followed by Layla Roebke, 10 and Hannah Besse, 11, in 82nd and 89th, and juniors Becca Bieda and Lindsey Murray, still recovering from a foot injury during track season, in 112th and 188th place.

Coronado girls varsity took 9th of the 25 teams at the meet, their first non-first-place-finish of the season, edged out for eighth by just 4 points by the Rocky Mountain High School Lobos, who the Cougars topped at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede.

In the boys race, the Cougars took 14th place of 27 teams with a total of 396 points. Coronado’s runners, in pack mentality, finished three of their nine varsity runners, Conor Strizich, 11, Ben Swanson, 10, and Andrew Burton, 11, within two seconds of each other at 17:53, 17:54, and 17:55, and in 83rd, 87th, and 88th places respectively. Coronado’s three-man pack was preceded only by senior Clay Rahaman at 17:30 and 54th place, and was followed by Noah Enoch, 10, in 113th place, Eric White, 9, in 138th place, Charlie Schroeder, 9, in 148th place with a time of 18:49, Burke Babeu, 12, in 162nd place, and Andrew Hill, 10, in 164th place. Freshmen Nate Stafford sat the race out with the same sickness as Cassens.

Coach Hugill is impressed with with how hard the boys have been running, saying, “We have a lot of youth on the boys side, which is pretty rare, but these young guys are really stepping up under the leadership of older guys, like Clay [Rahaman].” With plenty of talent and drive, expect Coronado’s men’s team be a homegrown powerhouse for the next few years.

The Cougars look to next week as a healthier, more experienced, and better rested team, eager to host over 35 regional teams and more than 2,500 runners at Monument Valley Park on 9/22 for Coronado’s annual cross country event, The Cougar Classic.