2024 prep previews: Big dogs lead the pack for Battle Mountain track

Rob Parish follows his athletes through their fall and winter seasons, but when the Battle Mountain track and field team gathers for its first practice in March, it’s still pretty tricky to grasp the group’s true identity.

One likelihood: with athletes on both ends of the talent spectrum, the big dogs will lead the pack.

“That’s one of the things we all like about coaching track,” he said. “The dichotomy you get, all the backgrounds and abilities — all on the same team. It’s a challenge to give each of those athletes what they need, but it’s also fun. It’s teaching in its purest form.”

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Along with the usual plethora of new faces, the Huskies return three individual state champion contenders in Presley Smith, Porter Middaugh and Will Brunner.

Smith finished third in the 400-meter dash finals last spring. With the departure of Niwot star Madison Shults and Northfield runner-up Ophelia Pulley, the Husky senior is the top returner in 4A. She shattered Battle Mountain’s 25-year-old school record with a 58.12 in the state prelims, then ran 57.88 in the finals.

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Parish said the smooth-striding Smith’s state title chances probably rest on how well she can translate her Alpine and Nordic fitness to the track.

Brunner is the reigning 3200-meter and cross-country state champion. Defending the distance disciplines offered a “good stress” throughout the winter, he said.

“I try not to think about what I did last year and kind of more focus on what I can do this year,” said Brunner, who woke up at 5 a.m. every morning to log a 5-10-mile treadmill run before training with the Vail Mountain School Nordic ski team in the afternoon. The Harvard commit‘s senior thesis investigates principles of progression in his favorite sport.

“One of the most interesting things is when you see these big jumps in running, it’s typically from people who are doing things that are different,” he said before launching into a passionate description of his introduction, which references Roger Bannister, the first man to break 4-minutes in the mile. The medical student applied scientific concepts from lectures to his regimen.

“His training was totally criticized by the British press,” continued Brunner, who inched closer to the hallowed 4-minute mark at one of the three prestigious East-coast indoor track meets he competed at. The senior negative-split a 4:09.7 full mile (1609 meters) — coming home solo in 2:02 for the final 800 — at the Trials of Miles in New York City on March 2.

“To know that I still have that in my legs to close a mile really fast was the best confidence-booster ever,” said Brunner, who currently holds Battle Mountain’s official 1600-meter school record (4:16).

Middaugh declined his final basketball season to invest his attention in track as well. He ran 8:18 for 3,000-meters at the David Valentine Invitational at Boston University in February and beat Brunner in the two-mile at New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston last weekend. It’s safe to say Brunner’s main obstacle in the way of repeating in the 3200 this spring is his own teammate.

“That’s the coolest thing in the world,” Brunner said. “Maybe the two best competitors in the state of Colorado run together every day. That’s terrifying for every other guy trying to race us. They know we can work together — and we do.”

Who is back and who is new

In addition to Smith, Brunner and Middaugh, the Huskies return state-qualifiers in Lindsey Whitton (3200-meter run) and Tyler Heimerl (high jump, long jump and triple jump). Sophomore Jakob Methvin, the electrifying offensive star of the Huskies’ state championship winning soccer squad in November, will be another athlete to follow.

“He’s obviously had a heck of a year athletically,” Parish said. “I think he’s going to be a stud for us, too, in the sprints.”

Cooper Skidmore will once again anchor the field. The defending Western Slope shot put and discus champion also competes in the jumps.

The girls, who qualified every relay to state last year, eagerly anticipate the return of sprinter Kiki Hancock, who injured her ACL playing basketball in the off-season. Ideally, she’ll team up with Tabbi Schroeder and Smith for the sprint relays.

Across the board, Parish is delighted to have one more year with this core veteran group.

“We know what we have with them — they’re so talented, they’re so diverse. They’ve had incredible high school careers,” he said before adding, “but there were a lot of new kids in the gym yesterday, too.”

In what Parish called a “changing of the guard” season, the latter aspect is important.

“Teaching the kids the sports and the nuances — all those things are fun to teach and watch (as) kids grow,” Parish said. “But I think what will be a key part (is) how does this team and the older kids hand off the culture?”

Brunner said he and Middaugh are leading by example.

“The biggest thing Porter and I have talked about and are trying to do is showing the younger guys on the team that what we did isn’t impossible,” the 17-year-old said. “At the end of the day, getting good at running is hard, but it’s not an impossible task. It really just requires training, following the plan every day and being incredibly committed.”