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Summit girls XC barely misses cut for state; Boyd, Ramsay qualify on fast Delta course

4A Region 6 League XC results

Overall varsity girls, individual (90 total)

1. Greta Van Calcar, Palisade — 18:30

2. Ruthie Boyd, Summit — 18:39

3. Tatum Burger, Steamboat Springs — 18:49

8. McKenna Ramsay, Summit — 19:22

23. Noelle Resignolo, Summit — 20:21

38. Morrison Donovan, Summit — 21:05

43. Emily Pappas, Summit — 21:26

60. Sarah Lorche, Summit — 22:18

62. Katie Mason, Summit — 22:30

64. Jessica Horii, Summit— 22:42

69. Megan McDonnell, Summit — 22:58

Overall varsity boys (93 total)

1. Ian Meek, Montrose — 15:26

2. Benjamin Lachelt, Durango — 15:35

3. Alexis Aguirre, Battle Mountain — 15:54

30. Alex Lehman, Summit — 17:23

51. Alex Mason, Summit — 18:15

61. Skylar Drakos, Summit — 18:54

64. Ryan Davidson, Summit — 19:11

74. Tyler Marshall, Summit — 19:50

82. Logan Pappas, Summit — 20:32

84. Nash LaFrankie, Summit — 20:34

Overall varsity girls, team (11 total)

1. Battle Mountain

2. Steamboat Springs

3. Palisade

4. Durango

5. Summit

Overall varsity boys, team (11 total)

1. Durango

2. Battle Mountain

3. Glenwood Springs

4. Montrose

9. Summit

All it took were two points.

At the 4A league meet on Oct. 23, the Summit girl’s cross-country team barely missed the cut for next weekend’s 4A state championships in Colorado Springs, losing by two points to fourth-place team Durango. It was about the difference of a single place in the overall results and marks the first time since 2011 that the Tigers girls won’t send a team to state.

“They just barely missed it, and that’s the most heartbreaking place to be,” head coach Heather Quarantillo said. “It is what it is. We knew it would be a tight race to win, and it came down to one better finish. It happens in cross-country around the world every day. It just hasn’t happened to us.”



It wasn’t for lack of trying on a familiar league course at Delta. Summit senior Ruthie Boyd came in second place overall at 18:39, tying her personal record to finish nine seconds behind overall winner Greta Van Calcar of Palisade. Tigers captain McKenna Ramsay finished in eighth overall with a time of 19:22. She and Boyd both qualified for the state meet and will be the only Summit runner in Colorado Springs on Oct. 31.

“I think everyone was in the same mindset,” said Ramsay, who admits this season has been “weird” for her due to breathing issues. “The teams that were right on the edge of making it to state were so close, and I’ sure everyone was racing harder because they knew that.”



Battle Mountain girls dominated the overall team standings, placing five athletes in the top 10 against a field of 90 total runners. Second went to Steamboat Springs and third went to Palisade, home to top runner Van Calcar.

Boyd entered the league meet with two overall wins this season, one at the Tigers first race in Basalt on Aug. 29 and the other at the team’s final race in Rifle on Oct. 15. The Tigers powerhouse had Van Calcar in sight for most of the race, keeping pace through a whip-fast league course where she’s raced every season since freshman year.

“I was excited about my finish,” said Boyd, who has qualified for state as a team and individual runner her entire high school career. “I personally met one of the goals I’ve been trying to meet for the last three years, which is getting back to my personal record from sophomore year. It helped to be familiar with the course. A large part of my motivation today was also the team, just doing the best for them.”

Despite barely missing the state cut as a team — this season is the first time Boyd and Ramsay will head to state solo — the two only had good things to say about this season’s crew. Several other girls had personal records in Delta, and Ramsay managed to overcome her frustrating breathing issues. Emotions didn’t hurt on the course — they only helped.

“I hadn’t thought about it being senior year until this race, and I think that’s why this race went better than the others,” Ramsay said. “I knew there was only one chance left. I finally got everything under control, and it came right in time for state.”

Like Ramsay, Boyd battled health and performance issues all last season, placing 69th at state after finishing 19th her sophomore year. Both runners are college-bound next year, but until then, they’re hoping for career-best performances at state. They won’t break any personal records — the Colorado Springs course isn’t fast like Delta — but personal best state finishes are easily within reach, including a top-15 for Ramsay.

“It has been a strong season for me,” Ramsay said. “I haven’t had any health issues or injuries to deal with, and I’ve enjoyed having a really strong senior season, spending it with the best team ever.”

Record-breaking boys

The Summit boy’s team knew long before leagues that they didn’t have much of a shot at state, with Durango, Battle Mountain and Glenwood Springs battling it out for top place most of the season. Instead, the Tigers set their sights on personal records.

And it paid off. All seven varsity boys broke personal records, including Summit’s top finisher, captain Alex Lehman (17:23), and fellow senior Alex Mason, who dropped 15 seconds off his PR to finish at 18:15.

“It really shows something about us, that we had seven runners with the fastest races of their lives,” Mason said. “In the Western Slope (league), a lot of our races are difficult, so we don’t really train for time. We train for place, and this race was where it paid off.”

Like the girls, the boys were plagued by obnoxious recurring injuries all season. Senior Skylar Drakos (18:54) had struggled with post-race shin splits since August, but, like Ramsay, he was able to overcome recurring issues in time for the final meet. He’d pushed himself hard over the summer to prep for the season, running roughly 400 total miles solo and in races.

“I just wanted to keep pushing myself,” Drakos said of his training and the league meet. “I had my PR for the last cross-country race of the season, finally got into the 18s, and that was a good way to end things.”


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