The Manitou Springs track team is looking good in a lot of ways. But there’s still a ton of work to do and the coaches and athletes all know it.
The Mustangs ventured to Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo to compete at the Pueblo County Hornet Invite. There were encouraging results from the usual suspects, but coach Anna Mack doesn’t want the team buying into any hype this early in the year.
“For some of them (I like what I see) but for others I thought they’d be further along than where they are,” Mack said. “We just have to work harder in practice.”
Mack leans on the idea that practice is where the races are won. The good news for the Mustangs is that they are getting some wins against bigger programs.
Lairden Rogge took the win in the 400-meter dash, running the race in 52.24 seconds. Lining up against runners from schools like Pueblo County and Pine Creek seemed daunting at first, but Rogge just relied on faith in his ability to run fast.
“It’s not like any team sport where it’s based on the skill of the team,” Rogge said. “It’s just you versus the other guy. When I lined up, it was me versus (the guy next to me). It’s just one guy. Go out and beat him.”
Rogge wasn’t the only boy to come out of the meet with a win. Henry Ilyasova put on a distance running clinic as he claimed wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.
In the field events, John Maynard finished third in the high jump, Anthony Snow grabbed top-10 finishes in the discus and shot put, and Brayden Dowling finished eighth in the shot put.
On the girls side, Bella Coscetti had another outstanding day. She won the pole vault by clearing 12 feet, then took second in the 300-meter hurdles, sixth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the long jump.
Meets against big schools are giving her a lot of confidence for what she’ll be able to do against the Class 3A field over the next month and a half.
“It’s definitely good competition and I can compare myself to different schools in other classifications, then look at the rankings in 3A,” Coscetti said. “I see a lot of good progression and a lot of trial and error that will get me ready for competition at state.”
Anna Kilpela and Reilly O’Boyle each finished in the top 10 of the 400, but those were the Mustangs’ only other notable finishes. Mack wants to see more improvement from both teams; she knows that the improvements have to come from what they do during the week and not during the meets on the weekends.
“We have to work harder,” Mack said. “We’re not working hard enough.”
The Mustangs head to CSU-Pueblo for the Thunder-Storm Invitational on Saturday, April 9.