RANGELY | For many people, the idea of lining up to race 5-kilometers is a scary enough notion to haunt them. Now, stack that on top of the race taking place on Friday the 13th and featuring the two reigning champions from Colorado’s toughest 5K. Sounds nightmarish and makes you feel a little bad for all the athletes racing against Taya Wren, James Talbot, and the Rangely Panthers at last weekend’s Whistle Pig Invitational at the Yampa Valley Golf Course in Craig.
The high school boys race was first to start and James Talbot set off with a pace fast enough to scare away any contention. Talbot led the duration of the race, crossing the line nearly a minute ahead of his competition in a time of 16:38. Joseph Valdez was next across the finish line for the Panthers, just shy of breaking into the top-10 with an 11th place finish in 19:26. Logan Peterson and Justin Allred finished 15th and 16th, respectively, in times of 20:04 and 20:06. Lincoln Harris raced through the line in 21:07, Gage Nielsen finished in 22:22, and Matthew Morgan ran 23:07. Every single one of the Panthers performances was a personal best.
The lady Panthers were next up and kept the ball rolling. Taya Wren was decisive and confident, making a move to the front of the race and never looking back en route to her new personal best of 20:16 to win handedly. Courtney Casto kept with the trend of running personal bests as she crossed the finish line in 24:42. Macy Morgan, who has unfortunately been fighting an injury all year, ran her best race of the season with a time of 29:03.
“I’m so excited for everyone,” said head coach Beth Scoggins. “This was our last regular season meet of the year and everyone really stepped up big and raced so well. I love that so many of the kids were able to run new personal bests and I can’t wait to see how they race at the regional championships next week.”
The Panthers have prepped all year for their chance to move on to the state championships and are now finally ready to face that test. The young distance runners will be traveling to Dolores next weekend to compete in the highly competitive Colorado 2A Region 4 Championships on Oct. 20.
