'Stangs will head to the hills ...

 

Once again, Mullen cross country will literally head to the hills to begin postseason competition.

As they have done in previous years, the Mustangs are one of the few Denver-metropolitan-area programs – joining others in Jefferson County -- assigned to qualify for the Colorado season-pending meet by having to run against mountain teams that train and compete at higher altitudes.

In addition, with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic still relevant, the Mustangs are coming off a regular season in which they were forced to compete in Centennial League-only meets and there will be less qualifiers for the state championship.

According to head coach Joe Welling, only three teams plus the top two individuals not on those teams will advance, and six runners _- as opposed to seven -- per team have advanced to regionals.

“It makes it tough,” Welling said.

Mullen will be at the Gypsum Creek Golf Course on Thursday for races that will have starting times of 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. Gypsum is a known as a rugged ranch town and is located west of Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts. It has an elevation of 6,312 feet.

The Mustangs will be competing against Battle Mountain, Central (G.J.), Conifer, Eagle Valley, Evergreen, Glenwood Springs, Golden, Grand Junction, Green Mountain, Palisade, Steamboat Springs and Summit.

Michael Dudzic, Travis Hockin, Patrick Keeley, Aidan Schwarz, Jacob Sushinsky and Jack Tolbert will be running for Mustangs boys and Julia Brown, Octavia Gomez, Kennedy McCamley, Alicia Muller, Amy O’Connell and Kira Van der Steen for girls.