Photo by Rebecca Holt

As the Cross Country season comes to a close, team and coach alike can breathe a sigh of relief. Ranking 9th at regional’s and 4th in the district overall, our iron-lunged Spartans can be pretty proud of themselves, because their coach sure is.

“Many of [the cross country runners] really improved their times, and many of them reached some of their personal bests,” Coach Wendy Doyle explained. “We did really well this year.”

Senior Jordan Shelton is going to state this year, but sadly, teammate Ben Makovsky won’t be joining him this year. Out of the fifteen places for the state competition, Ben ranked 16th, missing the window by only one. The state meet is scheduled to occur later this week.

With the end of this year, one can only wonder what next year will hold in store for the Cross Country team. As the seniors prepare to move on, including powerhouses like Makovsky and Shelton, their TJ running shoes will be hard to fill. Doyle, however, doesn’t seem too worried about next year. “Yeah, it’ll be tough to replace the seniors, but I have faith in the Juniors and the Sophomores,” said Doyle.

Ben Makovsky in a race for City. photo by Rebecca Holt

With a new season for the Cross Country team comes a new coach: math teacher Wendy Doyle. Taking the reigns from Brett Butera, Ms. Doyle has high hopes for the upcoming season. “I’d love to see each one of them qualify for regionals, and I hope to see some of them go to State,” said a smiling Doyle.

The Cross Country team is small at the moment and only has a few runners, but the team, according to Doyle, is “looking really good” and is “coachable” with “hard workers.” With returning champ Ben Makovsky, and returning runners such as Logan Dodd, Keith Hussey, Peter Taylor, and Jordan Shelton, the team is steadily getting better and better. “I’d like to see them set goals for themselves, and then meet those goals,” said Doyle. With a team full of experienced runners, this seems like an obtainable goal. “If the guys do well, they’ll set the tone for next year,” said Doyle.

Ben Makovsky, who went to State last year, has some goals of his own. “I’d like to go to State again, and I’d like to rank in the forties rather than the sixties,” said Ben. “Oh, and I’d like to win City,” he adds with a laugh, after a slight prodding from a teammate. With a quiet confidence, and an underlying hunger, Makovsky and the rest of the Cross Country team is eager to prove themselves this season.

    The boys’ cross-country unit has provided a consistent and exciting year for the TJ faithful, with a combination of talent, leadership, and commitment spread across the roster.

     Star Junior Runner Ben Makovsky has followed his sophomore accomplishments with another incredible year for the Spartans this season.  Ben is the #1 runner on the team, after finishing #5 out of all Denver Public Schools runners last year.  At the September 13th meet at Bear Valley Park, hosted by the Kennedy Commanders, Ben won the entire race with a time of 17:36 in the 5k run.  Coach Butera described Makovsky as a gifted athlete saying, “… he can take it to the next level, and this translates into great runs.” 

    Makovsky hopes to move even farther up the ranks this year. “Last year I came in 5th place; this year I hope to at least improve to the #4 spot,” he said.

    A pleasant addition to the team in 2008-2009 was Freshman Garrett Sapakoff.  Butera describes Sapakoff as a “natural talent” who is already excelling in his initial high school cross-country season.  Sapakoff has established himself as the #2 runner on the team, and hopes to be in the position of the #1 spot in years to come.  Butera also explained that Sapakoff is always full of energy and adds a unique aspect of liveliness to the team. According to Butera, Sapakoff is willing to give it everything he has and, “…lays it all out on the line”.

    The #3 runner on the team, Peter Taylor, is another component of the TJ Cross-Country team that is vital.  Not only is Taylor a talented runner, but is also a vocal leader on the team.  Being one of the older and more experienced athletes, Taylor is continuously offering support and encouragement to his fellow Spartans.

    Sophomores Emilio Hernandez and Alex Carter are also up-and-coming runners.   Butera is ecstatic about their dedication and commitment to the team, and sees heaps of potential for the both of them in the future.

    On the ladies’ side of the track, Ally Volk leads the way for the girls’ cross country team.  Coach Butera is incredibly pleased about having Volk on the team, mainly because of her extreme love of running, describing her as a “lifestyle runner”.  Volk competed in three half marathons this past summer in Hawaii, and strives to be a marathon runner when all is said and done.  “Cross country is just a small part of a bigger picture for Ally.  She runs because she loves it,” said Butera.  Volk, being only a sophomore, is sure to bring more pride and success to the cross-country program in years to come.

    Even with the immense amount of talent and success accomplished by the squad this year, Coach Butera is not in it for the glory. “I do it because I like these kids and wanted to help them develop as a team.  It is amazing to me to watch them run as hard as they do,” he said.    

    The love on the cross-country squad isn’t just flowing from Coach Butera, it’s coming right back at him as well. “I think Coach Butera is a very good coach, especially since this is his first year.  He has set his authority well and has given great running tactics throughout the year,” said Makovsky.

As for the State Regional Meet, which is quickly nearing, Butera said that his team is feeling confident and comfortable with the location of the race.  After all, his team is especially familiar with the course at hand: Bible Park.

    The cross-country squad just raced at Bible Park, on October 7 for the DPS City Meet.  Knowing the ins and outs of the park will make this race an exciting one for the Spartans.

     “For the Regional Meet, we have the circumstances laid out for us.   We have been practicing at Bible Park quite a bit and we know the terrain well,” Butera said. “We are at an advantage, especially for me as a coach, because it is easier to give tips and suggestions in practice, rather than going into the race with no previous knowledge of the course.”

    With a sense of home-turf advantage, the TJ cross-country program heads into the October 16 regionals looking to run hard, with Coach Butera proudly watching from the sidelines. 

    Bret Butera and the Spartan Cross Country Team hosted the TJ Invitational meet at Bible Park this past Saturday.  "It went very well, but the competition was very tough," said Coach Butera. 

    Some of the best teams in the state were there, including Fountain Fort Carson and Poudre High Schools.  The varsity boys ran well and a few of them ran personal best times.  "Over all I am really proud of them, considering it was our first meet of the season," said Butera.    Junior Ben Makovsky finished 8th over all in the boys varsity race.  "I hope  run a  PR campaign as the season progresses to increase awareness about the sport of cross country and recruit more runners," said Butera.

    A complete TJ Cross Country schedule follows:

September 6th
Thomas Jefferson Invitational

September 10th
Denver South
Washington Park, Denver

September 13th
JFK Invitational

September 20th
Fountain-Fort Carson Invitational

September 27th
Summit HS Invitational

October 4th
Windjammer Invitational
Englewood HS

October 7th
DPS City Meet

October 16th
Regional Meet

October 25th
State Meet
Fort Collins

Coaches

Head Coach: Alan Lind

Assistant Coach: Brett Butera

Roster

    Bosworth, Richard           10
    DeGregori, Luke                9
    Diaz, Ryan                        10
    Fears, Karisma                  9
    Gilliland, Ben                    12
    Hernandez, Emilio            9
    Kreutter, Gabby                10
    Makovsky, Ben                 10
    McBride, Emily                 11
    Mestas, Dan                      11
    Nordlander, Matt              12
    Scarlett, Joey                    11
    Sergeant, Jessica            9
    Shirk, Stephen                 11
    Taylor, Mary Kathryn       10
    Taylor, Patrick                  11
    Taylor, Peter                     9
    Volk, Alexandra               10
    Webster, Steve                12
    Yount, Toby                      10