Photo by Will Cornelius        Spartan cross country runners at regionals on Oct. 19 at Monfort Park in Greeley. From left to right, Tate Bothun and Scott Clark.

By Kristi Leonard
The Surveyor
Ten cross-country runners from Berthoud High School will be racing at the state championship meet this Saturday after qualifying through regionals last week at Monfort Park in Greeley. Athletes train and race throughout the season but none of the results count toward qualifying for state. Individuals must finish within the first ten places at the regional meet or be on one of the top teams to earn a spot in the state competition. At Monfort Park on Oct. 19, the entire Spartan varsity boys team qualified and two runners from the girls side.        Berthoud will also be represented by one unified athlete, Cameron Clark. The cross-country state championship will be held this Saturday in Colorado Springs at the Norris Penrose Event Center.
In the girls race at regionals, Jaycee Williams and Sydney Slauson placed sixth and eighth respectively. Williams, a senior, has qualified to state all four of her high school years. She knows how hard to push to make the cut without taking the edge off her state race time. Slauson, a junior, also cruised through the course keeping herself in position to qualify for her third trip to Colorado Springs where the state championship will be held. Marie Caberra improved by 90 seconds over her time from last year to finish in 34th place. Freshmen Anikka Bothun (42nd) and Jordan Jones (51st) got their first exposure to the stress of regionals. Gabriella Staley (58th), Kara Wilson (60th), Megan Malherbe (66th) and Lisa Loeser (70th) rounded out the rest of the Spartans girls squad. The team did not qualify for the state meet this year, but many of them will still make the drive to Colorado Springs this Saturday to support their teammates.
The boys race was dominated by Frontier Charter Academy of Greeley and Berthoud. Nine of the first eleven spots were monopolized by the two schools. Scott Clark led the Spartans and finished in fourth place. Along with Clark, seniors Tate Bothun who placed fifth and Afton Cooper in tenth have the state meet experience to lead an attack on Frontier Academy next week. Sophomores Ben Clopper and Aiden Malherbe rounded out the scoring by placing in ninth and eleventh respectively. Brady Fenderson completed the 5K course in 27th place, Julian Rayon 46th and Brady Hepp finished in 62nd.
Coach Jordan Jennings has been commenting on the hard work that the runners have been putting in since June. Jennings and his staff take an individual approach to training. The team meets together for warmup, but the workouts are tailored for individuals based on the amount of experience, strength, and power each has.
It is not unusual for Clark, Bothun, and Cooper to go on a 10-mile long run on a weekend off. Williams and Slauson often train with a group of boys. Sophomores like Malherbe and Clopper have been made strong and fit through a workout recipe of moderate distance, controlled speed workouts and an extra helping of rest. The formula works and Clopper was the poster child for it. At the beginning of the season, Clopper was more than 20 seconds per mile behind Malherbe. He has steadily tested his limits, finding that he was much more capable of running fast times if he stayed with his teammates.
For much of the season, Berthoud has been predicted to finish between fifth and seventh place as a team for state. However, a podium finish now is looking much more probable with Clopper’s significant improvement. “Boys are looking good and confident. Girls are the same. Should be fun on Saturday!” exclaimed Jennings.
At the state championships in Colorado Springs, Clark will race first in the unified race at 11:40 a.m. Next will be the boys race at 12:20 p.m. followed by the girls contest, starting at 1:40 p.m.