The dual force of long distance runners from both Basalt and Roaring Fork high schools has been a successful combination for Longhorns cross country in recent decades.
But this marks the first season since 2022 that both the boys and girls squads have qualified for the Class 3A State Championships, taking place this coming weekend in Colorado Springs.
Competing at the 3A Region 1 qualifier hosted by Aspen High on the Aspen Golf Course Friday, Oct. 23, both Longhorns teams — or Ram’horns, if you prefer — punched their tickets to the state meet with respective fourth-place finishes.
The boys were paced by a trio of Roaring Fork runners who finished in the top 20 overall, led by junior Levi Friday in ninth, covering the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 53.3 seconds, sophomore Elliot Galbraith in 17th (18:36.4), and junior Kaiden Werth in 18th (18:51). Rounding out the scoring were senior Kian Sullivan (22nd, 19:06.9) and sophomore Bode Schoenbrunn (24th, 19:24.1).
At 85 points, Basalt was just four places out of third place, which was secured by Aspen with 81. Moffat County won the regional championship with 46 points, and D’Evelyn out of Denver was second with 56.
“The boys team has been running well all year, and I think they were confident going in that they could be competitive for that final spot and ended up almost getting third,” head coach Ron Lund said. “I think just another year of racing and figuring things out has helped get them to where they are.”
In the girls race, the Longhorns were led by sophomores Scarlett Jones in fifth (20:41.6), Jude Tiernan in 11th (21:38.5), and Maggie Cole in 23rd (22:47.8), junior Eva Feinsinger in 29th (23:20.8) and senior Sadie Silcox in 30th (23:32.6).
Basalt tallied 98 points to Coal Ridge’s 97, just one place shy of third place for the Longhorns. And they did it short a couple of key runners.
“Our depth was critical with two of our top five runners out of commission,” Lund said. “They stepped up collectively and got it done.”
Aspen won their home regional with 63 points, and Moffat County was second with 71.
Saturday’s State Championships for all classifications will be held at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs. The 3A girls run at 9am, and the 3A boys race takes off at 10:20am. Races will be livestreamed on the NFHS network.
Boys soccer playoffs
The Roaring Fork High School boys soccer team held on to the No. 3 seed going into this week’s Class 3A state playoffs, despite a 2-2 tie at Delta to close out the regular season on Oct. 23.
Delta held the 1-0 advantage at the half, and scored again in the second. Both Roaring Fork goals came in the second half, one each from senior Wesley Serrano and freshman Inmar Gutierrez.
The Rams secured the 3A Western Slope League title with a 6-0-1 record, and at 12-2-1 entered their first-round game Wednesday night at Rams Field as the third seed against No. 30 Peak to Peak. The winner advances to the second round match to be played on Nov. 3.
Wednesday’s game result was not available at press time for this report, but please read next week’s Sopris Sun for details.
Also making the playoffs from the league were Coal Ridge at No. 19, Delta at No. 23 and Gunnison at No. 27
Volleyball seniors bid farewell
The Roaring Fork girls volleyball team closed out their season at 4-18 overall and 2-12 in the 3A WSL after a pair of home game losses on Monday and Tuesday.
The Rams dropped a 3-0 decision to Middle Park on Monday (16-25, 20-25, 17-25), ahead of a competitive showdown with local rival Basalt for Senior Night on Tuesday.
After opening an eight-point advantage in the first set, the Rams let the Longhorns back in it, ending in a 23-25 advantage for Basalt.
The Rams fell 20-25 in set two, before finally gaining the edge and coming away with a 25-23 win. Basalt responded with a 21-25 over the Rams to close it out, 3-1, to improve to 6-13 overall and 4-10 in the league ahead of their final match of the season on Saturday at home against Kiowa.
Honored before the game were six Rams seniors, including co-captains Hazel Jenkins, Tess Hayes and River Sherman, along with Kate Taylor, Ember Golden and Liz Revilla.
2A football playoffs
Making the Class 2A football playoffs once again is the Basalt High School team, which concluded the season at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the 2A Western Slope League, finishing second to 6-0 Delta.
Basalt closed out the regular season with a 35-21 win over valley rival Aspen on Oct. 24.
The Longhorns host a first-round playoff game as the 11th seed versus No. 22 Florence this Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is at 1pm.
Mountain biking rescheduled
The Colorado Cycling League State Mountain Biking Championship races have been rescheduled to this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley, after the trails were too wet to ride last weekend.
Freshman and JV races for both boys and girls are slated for Saturday, followed by sophomore and varsity races on Sunday.