Tiernan takes second at invite
GSPI Sports Editor
Montrose’s Gabe Aufderheide got a little revenge at the Demon Invitational cross country meet.
Aufderheide, who lost to Glenwood Springs runner Alex Tiernan in Montrose’s home meet earlier this month, returned the favor by beating out Tiernan to win the Demons’ home meet on Saturday.
“I beat him at his home meet and he came back to beat me at mine,” said Tiernan, who attends Roaring Fork High School but runs for Glenwood.
“I had to get him back at this meet,” Aufderheide said.
Aufderheide took advantage of the relatively flat course and set a blistering pace. He finished with a time of 16 minutes, 43 seconds – 38 seconds faster than second-place Tiernan
“I like the flatter courses,” Aufderheide said. “I like this course and have always run it pretty well.”
Fred Busch of Hotchkiss was third with a time of 17:24.
Aufderheide’s performance helped the Indians to a first-place team finish. Montrose had five runners place in the top 10 and took the team honors with 21 points, followed by Bear Creek (47 points) and Glenwood (62). Rifle placed sixth with 114 points.
On the girls side, Bear Creek made its trip from the Front Range worthwhile by placing four runners in the top 10 and taking the team title with 24 points.
Hotchkiss and Montrose were second and third with 30 and 49 points, respectively. The Demons placed fourth with 54 points and Rifle was fifth at 69.
Kara Lubieniecki paced Bear Creek, winning individual honors with a time of 20:24. Hotchkiss took the second and third spots with Erin Thayer and Teresa Bell clocking in at 20:30 and 20:34, respectively.
Amanda Alberieto was the top finisher for Glenwood, posting a time of 21:17 for sixth place. Rifle had a pair of runners place in the top 10 in seventh-place Jessica Warwick (21:26) and ninth place Elisabeth Strouse (21:40).
“I’m impressed with the Glenwood (boys) team,” Demon coach Joe Mollica said. “The oldest kid is Alex and he’s a junior. And it’s the same thing for the girls they are almost all freshmen and sophomores.”
With three weeks until the regional meet, which has been moved from Rifle to Delta, Mollica said his runners will have another two weeks of hard training before tapering down.
“I feel pretty strong and I’ve had a good season of training,” Tiernan said. “Another two weeks and I’ll be even stronger.”
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.
