Runners tumble to last place finish
Chadron State’s cross country teams finished last during the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship as the men’s team placed 11th and the women’s placed 12th, Saturday, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“Well obviously we were expecting more, we wanted more than that,” Head Cross Country Coach Luke Karamitros said. “We wrote down our team goals and objectives earlier in the year and we wanted to be higher than that.”
In the men’s 8-kilometer, four-lap race, a pileup of over 10 runners occurred 400 meters into the race. Two CSC runners fell in the collision including Noah Burtis, sophomore of Berthoud, Colorado, who’s shoe was knocked loose as a result.
“Before the pile up, when it was packed and tight, I was thinking to myself, ‘I’ve never fallen in a race, today’s not going to be the first’” Burtis said. “I saw a few guys in front of me tumble and trying to avoid falling – well, I fell and landed on all-fours and got spiked in the hand. I got up and noticed my shoe was half on.”
Burtis said he ran the first lap of the race with his shoe halfway on, but felt it falling off at the top of a hill during the second lap.
“I was thinking I could go so much faster if I didn’t have a shoe on,” He said. “So, I kicked it off – and I wasn’t thinking much, I should’ve probably put it back on, it would’ve probably been the smarter choice. But I tried to keep up as best as I could.”
After placing as the Eagles’ third and second fastest runner during the team’s previous two meets, Burtis found himself near last place as he ran 1.5 miles wearing one shoe.
“My foot hurt,” He said. “There were several times I stepped on rocks, it slowed me down a lot. One of the last guys to finish, I debated dropping out of the race, but I thought how coach told us how we have to fight our battles and during every race we are going to make a choice.
I realized that, if I’m going to finish dead last with a bloody sock, I’m going to do it.”
Burtis placed 98th-of-103 contestants with a 29:42.40 time.
Jesse Jaramillo, sophomore of Scottsbluff, placed 67th and led CSC’s men’s team with a 27:28.40 time.
Ethan Roberts, freshman of Rapid City, South Dakota, placed 73rd with a 29:51.10 time while Garrett Avery, sophomore of Sheridan, Wyoming, finished six seconds later for the 75th spot.
Madison Watson, senior of Mitchell, placed 60th-of-98 runners and led CSC’s women’s team with a 24:16.40 time in the women’s 6-kilometer race.
Tukker Romey, freshman of Gering, placed 68th with a 24:24.30 time and Emma Willadsen, senior of Eaton, Colorado, finished two seconds later to place 69th.
Finishing under 26 minutes were Sydney Settles, junior of Lincoln and Kassyl Swinney, freshman of Gordon, who placed 87th and 90th respectively.
Logan Moravec, sophomore of Gering and freshmen Jayson Caudell, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Cale Schafer, of Lasalle, Colorado, placed 84-86th respectively.
Joaquin Venzor, freshman of Greeley, Colorado finished 94th with a 29:17.40 time and Treyvin Schlueter, freshman of Wood Lake, finished one second later to place 95th.
Hannah Wilkie, freshman of Rangely, Colorado, placed 95th with a 27:12.80 time. Wilkie was unable to run the two weeks prior to the RMAC championship due to a minor hip injury, according to Karamitros.
“I think any sport can relate to this, but ours in particular, there are so many trials and tribulations you have to go through,” Karamitros said. “Whether it’s injury, mental fatigue or losing self-confidence because things aren’t going your way. Our sport requires so much mental fortitude.”
Next week, the distance runners practice again before CSC’s intrasquad track meet, Nov. 21, at the Nelson Physical Activity Center Indoor Arena. Karamitros said the team will use winter break to self-reflect, regain focus and prepare for the indoor and outdoor track season in spring 2021. According to Karamitros, training during winter break is more valuable than summer because the cold weather builds mental toughness and resilience.
“The winter months are even more challenging to go out in the cold,” He said. “Running on slick ice and snow, to wake up early when it’s completely frigid and our athletes live in Wyoming or South Dakota and all of these crazy places that aren’t very conducive for running. We have to make the most of it. If we fall asleep during this time, it pretty much negates all of what we’re capable of being able to do come indoor and even outdoor season.”
The men’s and women’s cross country teams feature nine total freshmen.