Rocky Mountain high for Mustangs

Relegated to mountain racing to begin the postseason, Mullen cross country decided to get a leg, er, race up on it.

So the Mustangs headed to Grand Junction on Friday for the Warrior Lincoln Park Classic, which also will be the site for the Mustangs in regional qualifying next month.

It couldn’t have gone much better now or for the future.

Junior Michael Dudzic won the boys race in leading the Mustangs to a fifth-place finish and freshman Amy O’Connell finished an impressive ninth in 19:35.29.

Keep in mind – Mullen went against mountain runners who train at significantly higher altitude and they actually prepared on the course that is their ticket to the state championships.

Head coach Joe Welling was thrilled.

“The objective in this week’s race was to capitalize on an opportunity to race on the same course that will be used for the state-qualifying course,” he said. “Since much of the varsity season’s success hinges on that (Oct. 17) race, we wanted to have a dress rehearsal for that day. The dress rehearsal exceeded expectations on many levels.”

Dudzic, for example, was clocked in 15 minutes, 58.47 seconds, more than 10 seconds better than the runner-up. Jack Tolbert (13^th, 16:48.63) and Will Locascio (14^th, 16:49) weren’t far away. And O’Connell finished in 19:35.39.

Breaking 16 minutes for Dudzic was huge as was O’Connell going sub-20 minutes.

“Amy and Mike led our teams with confidence and tenacity,” Welling said. “It’s also noteworthy that their times were the fastest female and male times for the program in in several years.

“Obviously, watching Michael put a big move on the lead pack and run the last 2 miles in first place was special.”

Aidan Schwarz (38^th, 17:43.50) and Owen McCarter (50^th, 18:13.16) were next for Mustangs boys.

For girls, Madison Wainscoat (40^th, 21:40.01), Alicia Muller (41^st, 21:40.13), Octavia Gomez (54^th, 21:21.35) and Emma Hehn (60^th, 22:56.01) provided the depth.

“The remaining runners,” Welling said, “followed in (Dudzic’s and O’Connell’s) footsteps and set several personal-best times on the day.

“We’re definitely looking forward to running an even faster regional race from top to bottom.”

Here's a link with race results: https://co.milesplit.com/meets/352896/results#.XY79mlVKipr

Also, the Mustangs will be hosting a community 5k run on Oct. 5 that is open to everyone.

Here’s a link with information: https://www.mullenhigh.com/athletics/teams/cross-country