The Lamar High School’s boys’ and girls’ Cross-Country teams had their first meet at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede held on August 25 at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs. There were 26 teams from the region participating in the Pre-State event, enjoying cooler mountain temperatures and low wind. Both teams competed in the small school division, running a 5k race on an open-air course with natural terrain.
On the boys’ side, Lamar senior Cole Krug achieved an impressive first place finish in the small school division with a time of 16:54.7. His teammate Joel Davis came in 4th place with a new personal record of 17:30:0. The other boys’ team members also performed well in the 177-person race, with competitive placements:
- Ryan Harbour: 46th place, 20:03.3
- Armoni Moreno: 57th place, 20:29.7
- Ethan Tellez: 74th place, 21:16.5
- Will Durst: 83rd place, 21:32.2
- Connor Lynch: 84th place, 21:32.4
- Thomas Hainer: 91st place, 21:37.4
- Parker Daniel: 167th place, 28:56.7
The Lamar Boys Thunder team secured a 5th place overall finish in the small school division, setting a promising pace for the upcoming season and their goal of qualifying for the state meet as a team later in the fall. Cole Krug and Joel Davis, the top-performing runners, mentioned in an interview that the team’s objective is to win the Rocky Ford Invitational on September 1st at the Rocky Ford Golf Course. The Rocky Ford team had placed just ahead of Lamar at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede, taking 4th place with only a 2-point margin.
The Lamar Girls cross country team faced challenges as they were missing two runners. Vanessa Chairez placed 71st with a time of 25:49.6, and Elexia Gonzales placed 112th with a time of 29:48.9 out of 137 runners in the same division.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams are preparing to participate in the 50th annual Rocky Ford Invitational, with the girls’ varsity race starting at 10 a.m. followed by the boys’ varsity race at 10:45 a.m.
