The Alamosa High School girls cross country team was the runners-up at the Class 3A State Meet Saturday in Colorado Springs. From left, Lia Castillo, Madeline Castillo, Autumn McQuitty, Sarah DeLaCerda, Abby Wubben, Elizabeth McQuitty and Audrey Howard. (Courier photo by Ken Hamrick)

COLORADO SPRINGS – The Alamosa High School girls cross country team finished in second place at the Class 3A state meet which took place Saturday at the Norris Penrose Event Center.

The Lady Mean Moose finished with 91 points. They trailed only The Classical Academy which scored 65.

“I am quite pleased with their performance today,” said Alamosa coach Jen McQuitty. “They came together as a team and unified as a family and they were determined. Their determination and heart all poured out today on the court.”

Leading Alamosa was Sarah DeLaCerda who finished in seventh place in a time of 19:14.40.

“The course was really good,” DeLaCerda said. “It was a little hilly and a little warm but I just kept on thinking about my team and they helped me through the course.”

Also scoring for the Lady Moose were Autumn McQuitty who was 17th in 20:05.60, Elizabeth McQuitty who was 18th in 20:05.90, Madeline Castillo who was 19th in 20:09.70, and Lia Castillo who was 50th in 21:47.20.

Also running for the Alamosa girls were Audrey Howard who was 57th in 21:53.63, and Abby Wubben who was 83rd in 22:46.50.

Rounding out the Top 5 in the girls race were Berthoud with 104 points, Liberty Common with 114 points and Kent Denver with 135.

The Mean Moose scored 220 points in the boys race for a seventh-place finish.

“We had some illnesses this week and they still poured out their heart and soul on that course,” said coach McQuitty. “They fought and they still placed Top 10 today so we couldn’t prouder of them as well.”

Jayr Almieda was Alamosa’s top runner as he finished in 21st place in 17:18.20. The other scorers for the Moose included Santiago Trujillo who was 33rd in 17:40.10, Mario Villalba who was 35th in 17:42.70, Izaiah Casanova who was 89th in 19:05.00, and Thaddeus Cody who was 92nd in 19:06.80.

Also running for the Moose was Alan Flores who finished 116th in 19:53.20.

The Classical Academy also won the boys team championship with 37 points, followed by Salida with 48, Frontier Academy with 85, Holy Family with 197, and Berthoud and Jefferson Academy both with 206.

Both Alamosa cross country teams will return all of their runners for next season.

“We have no seniors on either the boys or girls team,” coach McQuitty said. “So we get them all back. Our goal is to win a state championship as it is every year.”

“Hopefully we’ll get both teams back next year so hopefully we can win a state team title and an individual one as well,” DeLaCerda said.