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Area Sports Briefs

Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

The 2007 USA Cross County Championships were held in Boulder on Saturday and four area runners represented the Western Slope very well in the women’s open and men’s masters divisions.

Carbondale resident Carrie Messner-Vickers placed 19th in the women’s open division with a time of 30:26. Basalt’s Megan Lund took 35th in the same division with a 31:48 mark. Lund raced for the Boulder Racing Co., which took first in the women’s team standings.

Bernie Boettcher, of Silt, raced the 8K in the shortest time of all four, taking 11th in the men’s masters 40-44 division with a time of 28 minutes and 12 seconds. Boettcher’s team, Fleet Feet Racing, took first in the 40-plus category.



Ron Lund, of Basalt, Megan’s father, took 18th in the men’s masters 45-49 division with a 31:53 mark. Lund ran on the Foot of the Rockies team, which placed fourth in the 40-plus category.

With a handful of state championships and national competition appearances already under its belt, the Glenwood Springs cheerleading squad accomplished something on Saturday it has never done before.



The Demons advanced to the semifinals of the large varsity division of National High School Cheerleading Championships, to be held at the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Fla.

Glenwood will now be one of 20 teams to compete today for a shot at the finals. If the Demons can make it, they will get a chance to compete for the national title on national television, broadcast by ESPN.

Four Coal Ridge Titan wrestlers placed in the top four at their regional meet in Buena Vista on Saturday and will now advance to the state tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver Feb. 15-17.

Keenan Grumley led the way, taking first in the 130-pound weight class. Coming in at second place were Bradey Gasaway, at 171 pounds, and Michael Larsen, at 130 pounds.

Josh Alsop recorded a third-place finish at 145 pounds and Michael Cullen finished fourth in the 140-pound division.

Kendall Babler knocked down four 3-pointers and Kristin Guettler scored 14 points as the Rifle girls basketball team defeated Palisade 57-47 in Rifle on Saturday.

The Bears got things started quickly, working to a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bears outscored the Bulldogs 21-10 in the second frame to take a 38-20 lead at half.

It was a big enough cushion to fend of an attempted Palisade comeback in the third as the Bears (10-3 Class 4A Western Slope League, 14-6 overall) hung on for the win.

Despite scoring 74 points, the Rifle boys basketball team came up 11 points shy of the Palisade Bulldogs, falling 85-74 in Rifle on Saturday night.

Drew Blatchford scored 26 points, Scott Rust added 17, Zach Whitmore totaled 11 and Keenan Ross added another 10, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the high-scoring Bulldogs.

Down 48-33 at half, Rifle (6-7 Class 4A Western Slope League, 10-11 overall) came back to outscore Palisade in the second half, but couldn’t erase its entire deficit.


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