Cross country coaches don’t often sound like football coaches when they discuss a big race.
Phrases like “if we execute” and “they’re really hungry and ready to compete” were on the lips of Durango High School assistant coaches Laura Knapp and Brett Wilson ahead of Friday’s Class 4A Region 6 meet at Confluence Park in Delta.
Bayfield High School also will run its 3A regional Friday at Confluence Park in Delta.
The meet will determine which athletes qualify for state based on which teams finish in the top four and which athletes in the top 15, so it’s understandable that the Demons are taking a bit of a “game at a time” approach to the preparation.
Durango’s boys team has excelled so far this season, winning three meets and never finishing outside of the top five.
“This season we’ve enjoyed a great amount of good health, so we haven’t had to deal with very many injures on the guys side,” Wilson said. “The kids are hitting their training just like we want them to. We’re very well prepared.”
Five out of the nine DHS boys runners ran the same course last year, capturing the regional championship.
Gordon Gianinny was Durango’s top finisher at the regional last year and has paced most of the Demons’ finishes this year, as well. He led a squad that finished fourth in the sweepstakes race at the Desert Twilight Invitational on Oct. 3 in Phoenix, which featured 25 of the top cross country teams in the region.
“Any team that performs to that sort of level in a big meet like that is going to be on a confident wave,” Wilson said. “I would say the whole approach to this entire season has been building to this weekend and next weekend. Our boys have bought into that. By all outward appearances, they’re looking good and ready to roll.”
The Demons’ girls team also was buoyed by a strong showing in the desert.
“They were in the race with all of the big dogs,” Knapp said. “Being in a race of that caliber and knowing they can compete with girls like that boosted their confidence.”
A little revenge motivation never hurts, either.
Durango’s girls team finished second behind Battle Mountain last year, and the four returners from last year’s squad have a score to settle.
“I think they’re really hungry and ready to compete. We’re gunning for Battle Mountain,” Knapp said. “(They’re) the team that has won regionals the last two years. Our runners two, three, four, five, they’re the ones that have to bring it (Friday).”
DHS senior Shannon Maloney usually takes off at the start of the race to try and secure the best position she can, and the rest of the Demons run as a pack.
“The girls team is totally different from the guys team. They’re all pretty similar. The girls have a different situation,” Knapp said. “Shannon is at least a minute to a minute and a half in front of all of the other girls. She needs to go out there and get the best time she can to get the lowest amount of points.”
Unlike football, “the lowest amount of points” is a good thing in cross country.
“It’s a really great course. It’s a race that most people get there season-best on, because it’s flat and on dirt,” Knapp said. “And this time of the year, the weather’s usually cooperative.”
kgrabowski@ durangoherald.com
