The Salida boys cross country team is coming off of one of their strongest seasons in recent memory, with a second place finish in the state for both the team and for Camden Gillis as an individual (who is now going to be running for the Colorado School of Mines this fall). The boys also lose key runners Sam Kearley and Wyatt Shoimon who finished third (19th) and fifth (25th) on the team at last years state meet respectively.
The girls side also saw a productive state meet, although it didn’t see them get as high up on the podium. The ladies finished 16th as a team last season, but are returning their top four finishers from last years state meet, including Fern Clark and Kaylynn Shaffer who will be juniors and Violet Vogel who will get into her second season of varsity cross country. The Spartans only loss on the girls side from last years state meet is Claire Shepherd, who will be missed as a leader on the girls side and in practices.
For Salida this season, look for the boys to make a push behind what should be a strong senior class. Bean Minor, Jason Joslin, and Frank Decew all finished in the top 30 at last years state meet and should have a hunger after only falling to Peak to Peak by four points for a team title at the state meet. Also, look for a young group of guys to also be back to push from behind, as over the summer, some young faces began to make strides and improved times according to coach Kenny Wilcox.
On the girls side, the hopes are high, but improvement will be needed in order to break into the top 10 at the state meet. The good news going in, is the pack times for the Spartans on the girls side should be very similar to what the boys pack times looked like last year. Running in bigger numbers should help the girls to gain confidence through the year, and that could lead to drops in times.
Caleb’s prediction: Both teams will take a full team to state, and you can expect a top 5 finish from the boys, with the girls finishing at 7th or 8th this season and gearing up for a big push in 2020.
