The trails up and around Tenderfoot Mountain in Salida were busy on Saturday as the 3rd annual National High School Trail Running Championships were held throughout the day.
This years event drew the largest amount of entries across the three classifications, (citizen, male, and female) and saw names brought in from across the country. In fact, this years race, due to conditions of COVID, saw the race have to cut off registration two days before the race began.
By the end of the day, 252 runners from high school age to a pair of 60 year olds in the citizens race had traversed the trails of “S” Mountain.
In the boys race, out of 102 entries, the winner would be Sullivan Middaugh of Battle Mountain. Sean Korsmo of Bismark, North Dakota finished in second place with Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos of Green Mountain wrapping up the podium.
Salida’s Elijah Wilcox finished in 16th place to lead the local boys, with Izayah Baxter coming in 58th and Kuper Banghart finishing in 63rd.
On the girls side, 71 total participants ran in this years race, with the team from Cheyenne Mountain leading the way with most of their girls in the top 10. Cora McClain would come away with the championship and Abby Bufkin would take third. Sandwiched between was Lily Jasinowski of Regis Jesuit.
The local racers were paced by Zaila Smith of Buena Vista who came in 22nd. Mallory Salazar finished 29th. Salida’s Quinn Smith finished 43rd, Alexandra Hebert finished 53rd, and Kalister Banghart finished in 67th.
For the full list of results, you can find them here.
With the big jump in numbers from 2019 to 2020’s running of the race, Event Director Kenny Wilcox says he doesn’t know what to expect for the 2021 race, but he is excited about the prospects of what could be.
The work for this years race was not easy, as planning was packed into a shortened window of just about 5 weeks this year, and plans needed to be approved by public health and Salida Recreation.
But after the event is over, Wilcox says he is already receiving thank you’s from coaches and participants who were able to come and attend.
- Geraldine “Gerry” Lee Riddle (1948 – 2024) - January 17, 2024
- Kyle Joshua Knickerbocker (1994 – 2024) - January 17, 2024
- Brianna Therese Wancura (1990 – 2023) - January 11, 2024
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