The 4A Cross Country Champions

First 4A girls title in school history



BY ERIC R. FLORES

FT. COLLINS — Mission Accomplished!

That’s exactly what the Alamosa High School Cross Country coaching staff and Mean Moose girls were saying on Saturday afternoon after they found out that they had won the first ever girls Cross Country State title in the school’s history at Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins.

This victory came a week after the state meet was postponed because of inclement weather and 18 inches of snow on the course.

Building on previous years experience the Moose climbed their way to the top. It all started in 2006 as the Mean Moose finished in 17th place with 460 points. In 2007 Alamosa finished in seventh place with 251 points and last year they finished in third place with 168 points. “It took us four years and we finally did it!” said an enthusiastic Lauren Martin after she found out the results. Throughout the whole season Martin noted that since they had improved every year for the last three and they only had two spots to improve “and we don’t want one of them.”

“It’s just awesome,” said Alamosa head coach Larry Zaragoza as he waited for the official results to be posted. “The way these girls ran was just so exciting; I don’t think I have ever yelled so much for a race.”

The Mean Moose grabbed the 37-point victory over the Thompson Valley Eagles who finished in second place. Alamosa scored 129 points while the Eagles had 166 points. Third place went to Cheyenne Mountain with 173 points and fourth place went to the favorite to win the team title, Evergreen, with 191 points.

“I don’t think these kids gave up one bit,” said Zaragoza. “They wanted it so much they weren’t going to let anything get in their way.”

Alamosa was led by junior Nicole DeSouchet who ran a strong race. DeSouchet took the early lead and held the lead for the first mile but was passed by the eventual individual champion Allie Parks of Greeley Central and runner-up Becky Schmitt of Thompson Valley. DeSouchet didn’t give up however as she ran strong and finished in third place with a time of 18:54.6. The time was the 15th best time out of all the female runners in the state meet.

Senior Lauren Martin was close behind DeSouchet as she cracked into the top ten with a ninth place finish. Martin was in the top fifteen the whole race and ended up being as high as sixth place in the middle of the race. Martin was able to hold on in the final 200 meters as she was just a little over a second ahead of tenth place as she finished with a time of 19:06.2. Martin’s time would put her 24th out of the 525 female runners in all classifications.

Junior Jenny DeSouchet finished off the season on a high note after battling most of the summer and half of the regular season with a nagging knee injury, as she finished in 20th place with a time of 19:49.4. DeSouchet was stuck in that position pretty much the whole race and was able to outkick Summit’s Samantha Lunsky, who finished .9 seconds behind.

Senior Shelby Rushing who barely finished last year’s race because of heat stroke had no trouble this year as she finished in 43 rd place. Rushing was in the middle of a pack of five girls heading into the finish line. Three of them finished just .9 seconds ahead of Rushing with identical times of 20:28.8. Rushing was right behind with a time of 20:29.7.

One of the biggest factors in the race was Alamosa’s fifth runner, freshman Karlee Smith. Smith had a strong race as she started the race well sticking right with Rushing. At the 800 meter mark, however, Smith was tripped and took a tumble. She didn’t let that stop her as she immediately jumped up and continued her race with a determined look on her face.

“I just remember thinking, ‘I got to get Shelby,’” said Smith.

With the determined attitude and race Smith finished the 5,000-meter race in 20:47.9 which was good enough to earn her 54th place.

Sophomore Domonique Cantu who was competing in her first year of any prep sport finished the race with an impressive time of 22:49.1. Cantu nipped D’Evelyn’s Gina Sbarbaro by .1 of a second as she finished in 22:49.2. Cantu’s time earned her 153rd place.

“I love this team here, it doesn’t matter who you are but when you join the team they welcome you,” said Cantu. “Now that I have actually competed in cross country it is really eye opening because I have made friends I would have never had before.”

Sophomore Ashley Meek who battled the beginning of the season with a stress fracture came roaring back through the season and finished the season with a strong time of 24:32.4 and a 173rd place.

As a team Alamosa had an average time of 19:49.56 and the pack time between the first and fifth runners was a solid 1:53.

As the race ended parents, athletes and coaches thought it was a close race between Alamosa and Thompson Valley so no one jumped to conclusions but as the results were being posted it was quickly learned that Alamosa finished first and the celebration ensued.

The team victory is the first girls cross country team championship in Alamosa history and is the first girls state championship in any sport since the school has been in the 4A classification. This will be the last year that Alamosa will be competing in 4A as next year the whole school will be moved down to 3A whole football moves to 2A.

History was also made as Zaragoza has now become the first coach in Colorado to winning boys and girls state titles at two different schools, Alamosa and Centauri. Another interesting factoid about Zaragoza is that he is the only coach in Colorado history to win a state title in four decades as his team at Centauri won a state title in 1978. Zaragoza was assisted throughout the season by Peter DeLaCerda and Eric Flores.

With such a strong exit from the 4A field in the cross-country side of things the Mean Moose will focus their efforts on the track where they appear that they will be really strong in the distance events and a couple of sprinting events.



Moose boys gain

state experience



FORT COLLINS — After entering the state meet as the fifth place team at the regional meet two weeks ago the Alamosa Mean Moose boys gained some valuable experience while running at the state meet at Fossil Ridge on Saturday.

Alamosa finished in 24th place with a total score of 573 points. The average time for the team was 18:16.02 and the pack time between the first and fifth runner was 1:50.

Junior Chad Palmer led the way for the Mean Moose as he finished in 45th place with a time of 17:22.2. “I was disappointed with my time,” said Palmer after the race. “I don’t know what happened.”

Chad’s younger brother, freshman Gavin Palmer, was the next Alamosa runner through the chute as he finished the race with a time of 17:50.2, which earned him 88th place. Gavin was the only Alamosa runner to post a personal record during the race.

Junior Drake Sisneros and junior Jordan Wehe finished in 134th and 136th places as they finished with respective times of 18:27.1 and 18:28.3. Sandwiched between the two was Wheat Ridge junior David Wypered who had a time of 18:28.2.

Darin Sisneros was the fifth man across the finish line as he finished in 170th place with a time of 19:12.3.

In 182nd place was junior Jed Smith who finished the 5,000-meter course in 19:39. Freshman Jonny Wehe was the final Alamosa runner and he finished the race in 191st place with a time of 20:16.9.

The experience that the boys got in this 4A race will really help them next year as they will be moved down to compete in the 3A race. The Moose have all seven of their top runners returning and they appear as if they will be stronger and faster.