The terrain at Colorado Springs’ Norris Penrose Event Center isn’t one that lends itself to the smoothest of finishes for cross country runners, especially those competing on it for the first time.

But Bulldog athletes remained undaunted Saturday.

MCHS conquered the course at the 3A CHSAA State Championships as harriers recorded some of their best results of the season.

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Hayden freshman Sydney Wattles had one of the best placements for the MoCo girls cross country program in the past decade, ranking 30^th at a time of 20 minutes 26.14 seconds, only five seconds from her personal record in a strong rookie year of high school competition.

Head coach Todd Trapp noted that Wattles’ first time on the Norris Penrose course was especially impressive.

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“Sydney ran probably the best race she’s had all year,” he said. “The last couple meets, she’s been making that next step, and it’s been pretty exciting to see her progress. She went out super-fast and put herself in great position. She was hurting the last part of the race but stayed aggressive and went in blindly. She’s a strong hill runner, which helps on that course.”

Likewise, senior Josefina Kuberry’s first and only run at the state level went well, placing 76^th at 22:05.87.

While the girls did not have enough athletes to record a team result, MCHS boys took 18^th among 3A teams.

Junior Haven Carr led the bunch as he has most of the season, clocking in at 17:50.06 at No. 62. Sophomore Zach Womble was close behind in 70^th.

The finishing order that’s shuffled around all fall for the guys was no different at state — Daniel Gomez was their third finisher at 109th, followed by Quinn Allen (111), Brady Nunez (119), Ryun Pressgrove (120) and Travis LeFevre (147).

About half the group was in their first state outing, which Trapp said made the results all the better.

“The way those guys improved from 2023 to 2024, we’re pretty excited about how they finished,” he said. “This season was a lot of fun, and it was a good group of kids to work with. They all showed up ready to work every day.”

3A CHSAA State XC Championships

Moffat County Girls — 30. Sydney Wattles, 20:26.14; 76. Josefina Kuberry, 22:05.87.

Moffat County Boys — 62. Haven Carr, 17:50.06; 70. Zach Womble, 17:56.25; 109. Daniel Gomez, 18:58.45; 111. Quinn Allen, 19:03; 119. Brady Nunez, 19:22.57; 120. Ryun Pressgrove, 19:23.06; 147. Travis LeFevre, 22:26.95. The team placed 18^th overall.