Eagles compete on ‘grand’ scale
Seven men and two women from Colorado Mountain College’s
CMC second-year runner Jason Macaluso of Vail, in blue, gets encouragement from Eagles cross-country coach Darren Brungardt.
cross-country running team competed at the Colorado Mesa University XC Invitational on Oct. 10 at Lincoln Park in Grand Junction.
As the only National Junior College Athletic Association school at the meet, CMC joined a highly competitive field, which included 145 top runners from a total of seven Colorado universities and colleges.
Amid stiff competition, Jason Macaluso of Vail was CMC’s overall top finisher in the men’s 8K. In a field of 87 competitors, Macaluso ran a season best time of 28:21, coming in 63rd place. Four out of seven CMC Eagles ran their personal bests: Luke Plummer in 74th (29:04), Autry Lomahongva in 76th (29:25), Reese Fledderjohn in 82nd (30:37) and Adam Garcia in 85th (30:58).
Rounding out the team was Skyler Winter in 84th place (30:56) (a personal record) and Dylan Dunbar in 87th (33:24). Top finisher Taylor Stack of Western Colorado University crossed the finish line in 24:19. Also competing was CMC alum and former CMC team member Chris Rolf of Summit County, who’s now running for Fort Lewis College. He ran a 29:40 and finished in 77th place.
Kya Jackson and Madisen Johnson from Colorado Mountain College represented the college’s women’s team in the 5K against a field of 58 women. Jackson turned in a 24:08 and Johnson ran a 24:14.
The team plans to compete at the Region 9 Championships in Alamosa on Oct. 31.
