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Three Coal Ridge distance runners head to Colorado Springs

Joelle MilholmGlenwood Springs, CO Colorado

PEACH VALLEY – The electronic sign outside the Coal Ridge High School congratulates three runners, with flashing letters that say “Coal Ridge XC, State in Colorado Springs.”The state-qualifying Titan trio is made up of Cheyln McCain and DaLin and Da’Nivin Murphy, who qualified for state by finishing 15th, 4th and 14th, respectively, last weekend at regionals in Basalt.This will be the third trip to state for DaLin, a junior who has qualified each year for the competition. His freshman year, he placed 89th with a time of 18:49. Last year, he took 49th with a 18:22 mark. This year he plans on climbing higher again.”My goal is to be in the top 20,” DaLin said.After two years of running the course at the Vineyard Golf Course in Colorado Springs, DaLin knows it well.”It’s hard. The fact that there are hills in the middle of it and it is usually pretty warm down there,” DaLin said. “Just the speed of everyone else makes you want to go faster and there is just a whole different pace.”The 17-year-old also knows how hard it is to race in a 150-plus field of runners.”It’s crazy because you start out in something as wide as a football field and then you go to something really small – like four people wide,” said DaLin, admitting people get bumped in the bottleneck. “It gets very piled up.”For DaLin’s sophomore brother Da’Nivin, it will be his first visit to the state meet. Da’Nivin, who is 15 months younger than DaLin, has spent his life racing against and running with DaLin.”Now he can’t keep up with me,” DaLin jokes about his brother.It will also be the first state cross country meet for McCain, who is running in her first year of cross country. McCain does have state experience however, as the sophomore qualified for the state track and field meet last year.


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