MIX Sarah De La Cerda with two Castillo sisters and two McQuitty sisters and what do you have? A potent mix that delivers a Colorado Class 3A Girls State Country Championship team.
It was in Colorado Springs on Saturday when De La Cerda, a junior at Alamosa High, paced the Maroons to the team state title with a fifth-place individual finish overall. She then was complemented, as she has been the past two running seasons, with sisters Madeline and Lia Castillo and Elizabeth and Autumn McQuitty to earn Alamosa High the team state title.
It’s been a process to get to the top for Alamosa High Girls’ Cross Country coach Jen McQuitty and her team. The team has been a work in progress over the past few years, holding together a core group of runners that grew together as a running pack which in cross country is the ultimate goal – run as tightly together as possible to achieve team success. They certainly demonstrated that cohesiveness at the state meet.
Behind De La Cerda came Madeline Castillo to finish 7th overall, Elizabeth McQuitty 13th, Lia Castillo 21st and Autumn McQuitty 24th. The team was rounded out by Abby Wubben and Vanessa Villalva who finished 89th and 92nd, respectively.
Alamosa boys cross country finish third
The Alamosa boys also showed well, finishing in third place in the Class 3A Boys State Cross Country Championships behind The Classical Academy and Frontier Academy. Berthoud and Prospect Ridge rounded out the top 5 teams.
Isaac Higareda finished 7th overall to pace the Maroons. He was followed by Mario Viallalba (19th); Santiago Trujillo (29th); Jayr Almeida (35th); and Jeremiah De La Cerda (42nd). William Wilson finished 78th overall.
