In the early part of this high school cross country season, Monte Vista High’s Shae Romero and Alamosa High’s Ethan Merrick have set the pace and put others on notice that they are two runners to watch from the San Luis Valley.
The best of the San Luis Valley’s high school cross country runners showed up at the Larry Zaragoza Invitational held at Cole Park on Friday, Oct. 3. Romero won the girls 5,000-meter race with a personal best time 19 minutes, 9.14 seconds, and Merrick won the boys 5,000 meters with a personal best time of 15:32.80.
“The long straight away was pretty tough, but once I hit the dirt path around the lake it felt pretty good,” Romero said of the Zaragoza Invitational course, which used the river dikes around Cole Park and the pond of Blanca Vista Park for its layout.
Merrick, a sophomore, led a pack of Moose runners in a 1,2,3 finish in the boys race, with Jeremiah DeLaCerda and Brody Artaechevarria behind him. Merrick was 17th in the 2024 Colorado Class 3A State Cross Country Championships and won the 3,200 meters state title as a freshman at the 2024 Colorado State Track & Field Championships.
Here are the Top 10 finishers in each high school race. Full results below.
Zaragoza Invitational Results
Top 10 high school girls 5,000 meters
1. Shae Romero, 19:09.14, Monte Vista High
2. Scarlett Maxwell, 19:25.27, Del Norte High
3. Hannah DeLaCerda, 20:02.10, Alamosa High
4. Olivia Formisano, 20:02.94, Alamosa High
5. Vanessa Villalva, 20:26.20, Alamosa High
6. Victoria Gifford, 20:33.02, Alamosa High
7. McKenzie Torres, 20:36.98, Centauri High
8. Kourtney Heikes, 20:42.45, Centauri High
9. Abigail Robertson, 21:08.28, Bayfield High
10. Madeline Mitchell, 21:14.72, Sargent High
Full girls results here
Top 10 high school boys 5,000 meters
1. Ethan Merrick, 15:32.80, Alamosa High
2. Jeremiah DeLaCerda, 16:12.00, Alamosa High
3 .Brody Artaechevarria,, 17:02.20, Alamosa High
4. Lincoln Bagwell, 17:04.70, Centauri High
5. Rylan Ash, 17:17.37, Pagosa Springs
6. Cael Canaan, 17:29.58, Alamosa High
7. Jayce Johnson, 17:37.65, Alamosa High
8. Mads Kreutzer, 17:40.34, Del Norte
9. Cruz Plewe, 17:56.13, Montezuma-Cortez High
10. Porter Sutherlin, 18:07.40, Bayfield High
Full boys results here