Youth must be served

This was a busy week locally on cross country tracks.

And, a pair of Eaton youngsters stood out this past Wednesday at the Frontier Academy-hosted Wolverine Invitational at Monfort Park in Greeley.

Reds freshman Andie Rasmussen won the girls 5,000-meter race with a time of 20 minutes, 4.9 seconds, ahead of Heritage Christian freshman Ainsley Stanton (20:45.30).

Eaton sophomore Logan Gullett won the boys race in 16:55.20, ahead of Heritage Christian senior Xander Stanton (17:11).

Heritage Christian placed first in the boys team standings with 49 points, followed by runner-up Northridge (69 points). The Grizzlies had three top 10 finishes, led by senior Colton Magnuson (4th, 17:20.40).

Northridge placed first in the girls team standings with four top 10 finishes. Junior Victoria Perales placed fourth for the Grizzlies with a time of 21:44.90.

Estes Park was second in the girls team standings with 49 points.

Over the hill

Speaking of cross country, the Greeley West cross country team encountered what coach Lea Sanford called their first hilly course of the season. And, the Spartans handled that course quite well.

In a meet at Josephine Jones Park in Greeley on Sept. 4, the boys team placed second, and the girls team was third.

Mya Boyd (3rd, 24:13) led the girls, while Dylan Gesick (7th, 20:14) and Johnny Garrido (8th, 20:34) paced the boys.

Statement victories

On the tennis courts for the Spartans, the No. 1 doubles pair of sophomore Alex Dhupar and senior Blaine Cullen led West to a marquee 6-1 victory in a dual against Centaurus on Thursday.

Before this match, Centaurus had lost only one other match the entire season. The Spartans, meanwhile, improved to 5-1 in Class 4A play, 6-2 overall.

According to coach Ryan Pace, Cullen and Dhupar consistently beat their opponents to the net, relying on great placement to win a nail-biter, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 7-6 (7-1).

Speaking about the team’s momentum heading into the postseason, Pace wrote in an email, “for us to be at the level we are at now bodes well for the next two weeks.”

Just a handful of days earlier, on Sept. 5, the Spartans earned a 5-2 road victory against a talent-laden Rocky Mountain squad.

Pace called that win one of best wins — perhaps the best win — he’s had in his lengthy tenure as the coach of West’s tennis team.

Taking it to the MAX

Valley sophomore Aidan Trujillo etched his name in the school’s record books this past Wednesday when he set a new a school record in the weight room, with a 425-pound max squat.

Video of the impressive feat and the exhilarating moment — surrounded by classmates and teammates — can be found at twitter.com/i/status/1303909235030335489.

Trujillo — who goes by the nickname “Boo” — is a multisport athlete, who went 38-9 as a freshman heavyweight wrestler and helped Valley to a share of the 3A state title, with Eaton, this past season.

Bobby Fernandez covers high school sports for the Greeley Tribune. Reach him at (970) 392-4478, by email at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @BobbyDFernandez.