September 17, 2021 | SPORTS | By Quinn Guevara | Photo by Anil Jergens
It was an eventful weekend for the Colorado College men’s and women’s cross-country teams at the inaugural Ted Castaneda Classic. The meet’s name is in honor of Ted Castaneda, who is the longest-tenured coach at CC.
Both teams finished the race in our backyard: Monument Valley Park. The two teams each placed third. The men’s team fell behind New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo, while the women’s team placed after Metro State and CSU-Pueblo.
Some of the more outstanding performances this weekend came from James Settles ’24 and Elliot Singer ’25. Settles finished in sixth place and first among the Tigers, posting an impressive 8k time of 26:18.3.
“I felt I had a really solid performance at the last race; the training I have put in over this summer is definitely starting to paying off,” Settles said. “Our results so far are due to the hard work we’ve been putting in along with the phenomenal coaching we’ve received from Alex.”
Both teams boasted strong runs and point totals at last weekend’s meet. This was partly due to the teams’ level of enthusiasm to represent the Tigers as well as Castaneda in the inaugural classic. Settles was really excited to compete.
“The team was thrilled to be able to race at the inaugural Ted Classic,” Settles said. “For both teams, seeing how well we did in this year’s race as compared to the last time we ran this course is a huge confidence-booster. This race has made everyone even more stoked to race at the bigger meets coming up.”
The Tigers have about two-and-a-half weeks until their next meet on Oct. 2 in Colby, Kan. where they will compete in the Colby Six Region Preview.
When asked about the long break in between meets, Settles said, “I think we are all excited to see how we perform at bigger meets and on faster and lower altitude courses. That being said, this break will provide us another solid block of training that hopefully will boost our confidence even further.”
The break should prove valuable for the Tigers and will hopefully allow the men’s side to run even faster.
“On the men’s side, I am excited to see how many guys we can have finished under 26 minutes, three or four would be absolutely stellar,” Settles said.
On Saturday, Oct. 2 in Colby, Kan., both men’s and women’s cross-country teams will be rearing and ready to go.