Saturday morning was a day of firsts for a couple of Greeley West runners.  For one Spartan, Saturday marked the first “real” cross country invitational of her career.  For another, it was the first race of a senior season that begins full of optimism.

Sophomore Lenna Martinez competed for the Spartans last year,  but due to Covid protocols the total number of athletes and teams were limited for each meet.  That meant the Windsor Invitational, that featured 11 girls teams and 12 boys teams competing, was the biggest race in the Greeley area in two years.   

Martinez played it cool when describing her first invitiational.  "My team and I worked hard over the summer and it feels good to be able to show our work at a (larger) meet," she said.

Martinez was West’s top female finisher, crossing the finish line with a time of 23 minutes and 52 seconds, good for 58^th place overall.  Martinez said the race would help her reach her goals for the season. "My personal goals this season are to make state and run a 21 minute or less 5k."  

The Poudre Learning Center made for an excellent race location, even if it wasn't in Windsor.  Martinez said it was a good course to kick off the season. "It was pretty. There was only one little hill that made me tired, which was good," Martinez said. 

Meanwhile, senior Bohden Suntych was beginning his final season running cross country.  Suntych paced all Spartan boys with a time of 19:03, good for a 47^th place finish.  

The Loveland girls team – a premier squad in Northern Colorado – won the meet handily.  On the boys side, Erie won the team title.  The Spartan girls finished 11^th and the boys finished 14^th. 

The Spartans next race will be Saturday when they host the Andy Myers Invitational. 

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