Preps: Basalt girls XC solid in Crested Butte, Aspen boys tennis wins twice
Local high school cross country teams competed Saturday in Crested Butte at the Emma Coburn Elk Run, put on by the race’s namesake Olympian who grew up in the town.
In the girls high school race, Basalt again had a strong showing by finishing second (52 points) as a team behind only a much larger team in Heritage (32 points). Gunnison and Aspen were next in line with 58 points each.
Pomona junior Emma Stutzman won the girls race in 17 minutes, 55.4 seconds, with Basalt junior Katelyn Maley finishing second in 18:39.7 and her BHS junior teammate Ava Lane coming in third (19:08.9).
Junior Elsie Weiss led Aspen by finishing seventh in 20:17.3. AHS junior Michaela Kenny was just outside the top 10, finishing 13th in 21:36.9, and freshman Julia Diaz was 15th in 22:24.8.
Aspen sophomore Edwin Ryerson had the best finish among local runners in the boys race, taking 17th in 19:04.2, while AHS junior Eske Roennau was two spots back in 19th with a time of 19:43.7.
Crested Butte’s Connor Williams won the boys race in 16:23.7.
Neither the Aspen nor the Basalt boys were a factor in the team results.
While Basalt could possibly compete in Delta next weekend, Aspen isn’t scheduled to compete again until hosting its annual Chris Severy Invitational on Oct. 9. The regional cross country meet is slated for Oct. 22, hosted by Coal Ridge.
AHS tennis wins twice on Saturday
The Aspen High School boys tennis team won a pair of home matches on Saturday at the Aspen Tennis Club, beating both Steamboat Springs and Vail Christian by scores of 4-3.
Against Steamboat, AHS swept the singles matches behind No. 1 Chase Kelly (6-2, 6-4), No. 2 Quinn McKie (4-6, 6-4, 10-8) and No. 3 Josh Ward (6-3, 1-6, 10-5). The Skiers also won at No. 1 doubles via forfeit to take the match despite losses at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 doubles.
Against Vail Christian, the script was flipped with Aspen winning at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 doubles, and Ward winning at No. 3 singles (6-3, 4-6, 11-9) to put the Skiers over the top. Vail took both the top two singles matches as well as the No. 1 doubles match.
The wins came on the heels of Aspen’s 6-1 win over Basalt on Wednesday. The Longhorns played Saturday against Fruita, winning 7-0. BHS is scheduled to host Steamboat on Wednesday.
The Skiers are tentatively scheduled to host Fruita on Thursday in their regular-season finale. Regionals are the following week in Grand Junction, with the state tournament scheduled to begin Oct. 14 in Pueblo.
Other prep notes
The Aspen High School boys soccer team traveled to Rifle on Saturday, losing 2-1. The Bears improved to 3-5 overall after starting the season 0-4. The Skiers fell to 4-3-1 overall after a 4-1 start to the season. Aspen played to a scoreless draw with Glenwood Springs on Thursday and lost to Roaring Fork on Tuesday, 3-1, after a four-game win streak.
The Skiers are scheduled to next play Tuesday at Coal Ridge. Basalt (1-7) did not play this weekend and next travels to Glenwood Springs on Tuesday.
….. The Basalt (7-3) and Aspen (4-1) volleyball teams were off this past weekend. The Longhorns next play Tuesday at Coal Ridge, while the Skiers host Grand Junction Central on Tuesday.
….. The Aspen High School softball team played Saturday at Gunnison, losing 24-3 and 21-1 in the doubleheader to fall to 0-12 on the season. The Skiers are scheduled to host Basalt on Monday. The Longhorns (4-12) haven’t played since beating Aspen 16-4 on Thursday.