CSC runners face uphill battle at UCCS

Chadron State’s men and women’s cross country teams battled elevation and smokey air quality en route to placing fourth against three other conference opponents, Saturday, at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“I think we can get everyone within 20-30 seconds within one another, but we didn’t execute that this past weekend,” Head Cross Country Coach Luke Karamitros said about the meet.

The women’s team ran five kilometers against 47 participants while the men’s team ran eight against 58 participants as all participants competed on a lap-based course which featured steep changes in elevation. According to many CSC runners, the race was one of the most challenging to start a season.

“The meet was one of the most difficult races I’ve ever competed in,” Logan Moravec, sophomore of Gering, said about the race. “The combination of the elevation, smoke in the air and the crazy hills made it one race to always remember.”

Emma Willadsen, senior of Eaton, Colorado, led the women’s team by placing 22nd of 47 with a 21:09.2 finish time while senior Madison Watson, of Mitchell, finished roughly five seconds after to place 24th.

Jesse Jaramillo, sophomore of Scottsbluff, led the men’s squad by placing 37th of 58 with a 28:48.7 finish time.

The remainder of the women’s team ranked in the bottom 17 of 47 participants as Hannah Wilkie, freshman of Rangely, Colorado, Sydney Settles, junior of Lincoln, Tukker Romey, freshman of Gering, and Kassyl Gunwall, freshman of Gordon, placed 34-37th respectively.

For the men’s team, sophomores Moravec and Noah Burtis, of Berthoud, Colorado, placed 40th and 41st while Garrett Avery, of Sheridan, Wyoming, placed 43rd. Freshmen Ethan Roberts, of Rapid City, South Dakota, placed 49th, Treyvin Schlueter, of Wood Lake, placed 51st, while Cale Shafer, of Lasalle, Colorado, Jayson Caudell, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Joaquin Venzor, of Greeley, Colorado, placed 53-55th respectively.

Following the meet, Karamitros stressed the importance of mental toughness and keeping focus for the men’s team as multiple freshmen adjusted to 8K distances in contrast to high school distances.

“These men, they have to race for 25-plus minutes typically and by the end of the year as we jump up to the 10K, that’s 30-plus minutes,” Karamitros said. “Whether you’re a regular student or an adult, sitting and staying focused for that amount of time is already difficult, much less when you’re in the heat of a battle and things aren’t going your way, it’s easy to lose focus. One of the biggest things I like to tell my kids is to stop feeling sorry for yourself. Sometimes you have to shake off that negativity and just start thinking of the positives.”

Chadron State is planning to host South Dakota Mines and potentially three other schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on Oct. 3.

“I am excited to race on our home turf,” Willadsen said. “It’s a course the upperclassmen and I are familiar with and I hope to make the most of the race because of our shortened season. I think the home course will be a great experience for our freshmen on the team as well.”