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Colby only Routt County runner to qualify for state cross country

Soroco senior Alex Colby is the only Routt County runner qualified for the state cross country championships next Saturday in Colorado Springs.
Shelby Reardon

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Soroco High School senior Alex Colby is the only cross country runner from Routt County going to the state cross country championships next weekend. 

Trying to limit the number of people at the state venue, the Colorado High School Activities Association made it harder to qualify for state by limiting the number of teams and individuals to move on at each level.

Colby didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. He ran his best-ever time, 17 minutes and 35 seconds, which was good for third in the 2A Region 4 Championships in Delta on Friday. 



“Alex ran like a beast,” said Soroco head coach Matt Mayer. “Everybody except for one had their personal best (time) for the season.”

Matt Sullivan and Spencer Ashley were the next-best Soroco finishers, cracking the 20-minute mark to earn 32nd and 34th. 



The Rams girls nearly qualified as a team but were just four points out of fourth place. Larhae Whaley was the first Soroco runner to cross the line, earning 20th with a time of 22:58. She was followed by Lexi VandenBurg who ran the race in 23:11, more than a minute faster than her previous personal-best time. 

Kayedence Bruner finished right behind VandenBurg in 25th, while Eden Mayer and Skyler Clark both finished in the top 40. 

Although the ladies were shy of qualifying, Matt Mayer was pleased with their performances.

“When they’re running ’til they puke and they run their personal bests, I can’t ask much more,” he said. 

Colby will be the only Ram headed to Colorado Springs on Oct. 17 for the state championships. 

For the first time in seven years, the Steamboat Springs High School cross country team didn’t qualify a runner for state. 

Only three teams and two individuals from each gender could keep their season alive. A few Sailors fell just short. 

The Steamboat Springs Sailors pose at the 4A Region 1 Championships at Eagle Valley on Thursday.
Lisa Renee Tumminello/Courtesy

Senior Jaydon Fryer, who has been chasing the 17-minute mark all season, finished 12th in 17:12. Right behind him, junior Bowden Tumminello finished 13th in 17:16. 

“They just had stellar performances,” said Steamboat head coach Lisa Renee Tumminello. “We were hopeful that Jaydon could toe that state championships line, at least.”

Behind them, Casey Wolf took 58th, and Connor Prost and Jameson Tracy took 62nd and 63rd. Jaxson Fryer rounded out the Sailors boys in 69th place. 

The Sailors ladies were paced by sophomore Autumn Oslowski who earned 16th with a time of 20:28. 

“She is so young and so talented. It just seems really important that she doesn’t have expectations — or pressure is the better word,” Tumminello said. “We didn’t lay any of that out for her.”

Senior Sidney Barbier was about 30 seconds behind Oslowski in 21st, finishing her cross country career strong after battling some injuries all season. 

“For her to be pain-free is a huge win for Sidney,” Tumminello said. 

2A Region 4 Championships
Girls team scores: 1. Ignacio 51. 2. Colorado Rocky Mountain School 69. 3. West Grand 71. 4. Hotchkiss 87. 5. Soroco 91. 6. Mancos 102. 7. Meeker 110. 8. Caprock 121. 9. Telluride 136. 10. Paonia 143. 11. Crested Butte 143. 12. Rangely 163. 13. Ouray 176. 
Top 3: 1. Ruby Pendy, CB, 20:31.58. 2. Morgan Karow, CRMS, 20:39.09. 3. Maci Barnes, I, 20:44.11. 
Area finishers: 20. Larhae Whaley 22:58.46. 24. Lexi VandenBurg 23:11.95. 25. Kayedence Bruner 23:14.04. 30. Eden Mayer 23:43.97. 39. Skyler Clark 24:29.15.
Boys team scores: 1. Ouray 57. 2. Rangely 92. 3. Caprock Academy 94. 4. Grand Valley 98. 5. Colorado Rocky Mountain School 118. 6. Paonia 119. 7. Soroco 130. 8. Olathe 134. 9. Crested Butte 136. 10. Meeker 151. 11. Mancos 166. 12. Ignacio 176. 13. Dolores 179. 14. West Grand 208. 15. Hotchkiss 212. 16. Lake City 223. 17. DeBeque 229. 
Top 3: 1. Connor Williams, CB, 16:36.08. 2. Vincent Schierenberg, O, 17:35.61. 3. Alex Colby, S, 17:35.65. 
Area finishers: 32. Matt Sullivan 19:49.13. 34. Spencer Ashley 19:51.62. 61. Alan Mayer 22:11.09. 77. Gavyn Salberg 24:58.89. 

4A Region 1 Championships
Boys team scores: 1. Conifer 46. 2. Battle Mountain 75. 3. Central Grand Junction 90. 4. Green Mountain 129. 5. Mullen 154. 6. Golden 159. 7. Eagle Valley 187. 8. Steamboat springs 208. 9. Evergreen 214. 10. Summit 232. 11. Palisade 244. 12. Grand Junction 249. 13. Glenwood Springs 298. 
Top 3: Graham Tuohy-Gaydos, GM, 15:59.2. 2. Zach Gacnik, C, 16:10. 3. Topi Alahuhta, C, 16:33.3. 
Area finishers: 12. Jaydon Fryer 17:12.5. 13. Bowden Tumminello 17:16.1. 58. Casey Wolf 19:09.1. 62. Connor Prost 19:20.3. 63. Jameson Tracy 19:23.8. 69. Jaxson Fryer 20:07.9. 
Girls team scores: 1. Battle Mountain 34. 2. Green Mountain 115. 3. Glenwood Springs 122. 4. Golden 127. 5. Eagle Valley 128. 6. Steamboat Springs 152. 7. Evergreen 195. 8. Palisade 198. 9. Mullen 209. 10. Grand Junction 227. 11. Conifer 238. 12. Summit 265. 13. Central Grand Junction 287. 
Top 3: Samantha Blair, EV, 18:02. 2. Elliot Pribramsky, GM, 18:23.1. 3. Ella Johnson, GS, 18:50.3. 
Area finishers: 16. Autumn Oslowski 20:28.6. 21. Sidney Barbier 21:05.7. 32. Marcada Baker 21:36.1. 34. Kelsey Hamilton 21:39.8. 49. Hailey Moss 22:26.2. 50. Courtney Vargas 22:28.8.

To reach Shelby Reardon, call 970-871-4253, email sreardon@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @ByShelbyReardon.


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