The Miners cross country teams turned in an impressive showing at state on Tuesday, with the girls team even claiming eighth place on the day. Park City Head Coach Steve Cuttitta was proud of this showing and happy for his runners, many of whom had career days in the 5K competition, which was held at the Regional Athletic Complex down in Salt Lake.
One of the standouts on Tuesday, as became usual this season, was Miners sophomore Sonja Preston. Preston ran an 18:59.2, which was good enough for sixth-place individually in 4A. Cuttitta lauded Preston and her performance, stating “she was first-team all state and she’s only a sophomore, so that’s a big accomplishment.”
Preston is just one of five state runners on the girls side that will be returning next year, joining the fold with numerous other talented athletes. The boys side, which failed to qualify as a team yet sent three runners to compete Tuesday as individuals, had zero seniors this year, and therefore should return everyone and then some. While their team is a few steps behind the girls’, Cuttitta, who coaches them both, expects they can potentially take even bigger leaps as they all get older.
“They’re all back (the boys team next fall), and so they’ll know what it takes,” shared Cuttitta, who also said his girls team is so excited for next year that they began discussing it in the moments following the race the other day. He mentioned keys to success will be keeping runners healthy and able to train, while also utilizing the indoor and outdoor track seasons coming up, which he estimates around 90% of his cross country runners usually take part in.
That track season will kickoff shortly this winter, spearheaded by Cuttitta and Dave Yocum, the boys track and field head coach. Despite the potential harshness of another Park City winter, the two are sure to have their runners improving and competing at their best against familiar foes, who they’ll see once more next fall for the 2024 cross country season.