In the words of Henry Ford, “If everyone is moving forward together, success takes care of itself.” This idea exemplifies Chatfield’s 2021 boys and girls Cross Country programs, both of which experienced much success this season. Their hard work, determination, grit, and team bond led to a season that everyone is sure to remember. As the season comes to a close, we look back at what made both these programs some of the most successful teams that have come through Chatfield. 

We begin with the girls varsity team, led by head coach Angie Erb in her 9th year of coaching. The girls varsity team, consisting of Hailey McCurdy, Chloe Cook, Melayna Barclay, Kaia Chuita, Reese Tucker, Emerson Mullen, and Hannah Anderson, had a stellar season, with notable finishes taking 1st place at the D’Evelyn Dash and the Arvada West Durden Invitational, as well as taking the runner-up spot at the Jeffco League Championships. This team proved their talent and effort by finishing every meet in the top 5, including taking 4th place at regionals and qualifying for states, where they took 10th place. With many talented underclassmen who will continue to impress over the next few years, it’s guaranteed that we will see even more success from them in the coming seasons.

The boys varsity team had also had tons of success this season, led by head coach Jeff Mages in his 26th season. This team, consisting of Quinn Chandler, Noah O’Dougherty, Riley McMurry, Mason Bessette, Ammon Kitchen, Chase Miller, and Camden Law, had a remarkable season, with notable finishes taking first place at the Arvada West Durden Invitational, and taking runner-up at the Jeffco League Championships. The team has had very impressive results at every meet, much like the girls team, finishing each meet in the top 6 teams. This, once again, includes the regional championship, in which they also took 4th, qualifying for the state meet where they took 17th place. While this team is losing some very talented seniors this year, they have many skilled runners who are more than ready to take up the mantle when the time comes next season, so we can expect to see lots more success next year.

In addition to the impressive results of the varsity teams, the JV teams had plenty to reap. The JV girls finished 3rd at the Dave Sanders Invitational and won both the Arvada West Durden Invitational and the Jeffco League Championships. The JV Boys finished 4th at the Dave Sanders Invitational and took runner-up at the Arvada West Durden Invitational and Jeffco League Championships. These impressive finishes show that the team has many great runners who will aid in the success of the team in the future. 

The coaches have known this year was coming for a while. All the runners have been training and working hard for all their years of running and as they got better, the coaches knew it would translate to some of the best teams that have ever ran at Chatfield.