Under new head coach Blake Durtschi, the Cottonwood Colts girls cross country team has been going places and placing in big events all season long. 

That all culminated in a big way this past October at the 4A state girls cross country championships when senior Nina Haway finished in 98th place overall. 

“We like what the new head coach has been doing with this team,” said Cottonwood Athletic Director Gregg Southwick. 

For Haway as well as several other Colts, the season started out well when the senior finished a rugged Payson course in a time of 20 minutes and 41 seconds, good for ninth place overall on Aug. 23. Junior Sunny Evans came in just behind Haway in 41st and senior Makena Brooks was 45th.  

But, in her first region meet of the year Aug. 28 at the Deseret Peak Complex, Haway would show why she would be one to reckon with. The senior finished in first, defeating the rest of the field by at least a full 30 seconds. In that race, Evans was 12th and Brooks, 15th.

On Murray Park’s hilly course Sept. 6, Haway found the going a bit more difficult, finishing in 56th. Evans was 96th in this nonregion contest that featured more than 300 runners from three states. 

Haway would wrap up the preseason races with a 105th place finish at TwiKnight at American Fork’s Art Dye Park while Evans crossed the tape in 190th. 

At the 4A divisionals at Orem’s Lakeside Park, Haway passed the finish line in 51st place while Evans and Brooks finished in 80th and 84th respectively. For the first time all season, junior Zoe Snow finished a varsity race, running across the line in 86th in a time of 28:45. 

All season long though, you could find a Cottonwood runner hot on the heels of their opposition, as was the case when Haway finished the Region 10 Championships on her home course in 22nd place. 

Also placing at the Cottonwood Complex were Evans and Brooks along with two other runners that hadn’t placed in a varsity competition—junior Victoria Savage and sophomore Ella Darnell. 

As a team, the Colts girls finished in seventh place overall and did not qualify for the state championships. 

On the boys side, the Colts were paced all season long by senior Ethan Merryweather [20th at Payson, third at Deseret Peak, 45th at Murray Park, 114th at American Fork], who wrapped up his final season at Cottonwood with a 23rd place at the Region 10 Championships and a 111th place at state. 

Junior Grant Adams finished in 147th place at the state championships. He got there by finishing ahead of Merryweather at the 4A Divisionals in 41st, seven places ahead of his teammate. 

Other Colts that ran season-bests included sophomore Caleb Hill, who finished in 35th place at Payson; junior William Durtschi, 41st at Payson; freshman Maximus Mendenhall, who was 47th at the Payson meet and sophomore Turner Hamel, 48th at the same meet. 

Runners who finished outside the top 50 at Payson were sophomore Damien Fernandez in 51st and junior Kaden Brooks in 55th. At Deseret Peak, junior Brian Hsiao was 12th and senior Terrence Kalimasi, 22nd. 

Finally, behind Merryweather and Adams at the Region 10 Championships at Cottonwood Complex were Hill, in 37th; Hamel, Durtschi and Fernandez in places 39-41 and Hsiao in 44th. As a team, the Colts boys finished in seventh place and did not qualify for the state championships.