Montezuma-Cortez High School Senior Zander Cruzan is piling up wins at track meets across the region. But his results are not a function of racing in Class 3A or running on the western slope. In fact, Cruzan is putting together one of the most impressive track seasons in recent memory in Colorado. And his times stack up with Colorado’s best in any classification. By Connor Shreve. This story is sponsored by The Lor Foundation and Blondies Trophy Room
Montezuma-Cortez High School - https://www.cortez.k12.co.us/our-schools/mchs
Colorado High School Activities Association - https://chsaanow.com/
Colorado's fastest high school track star might be right here in Cortez. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by the LOR Foundation and Blondie's Trophy Room. I'm Connor Shreve. Zander Cruzan's Track times are dropping as the season races towards the state meet. Cruzan is putting together a memorable season by any performance standards. He says he's not surprised by his improvement.
Man, senior year, I feel like it's just going to be the fastest year out of out of 'em all. It's been giving me some time to kind of reflect from past years and past experiences what I've been able to run. And the people that got to meet and race against, you know, it's been a blessing for sure.
That's not to say Cruzan is letting this season's success get to his head. In fact, head coach Bob Archibeque believes Cruzan is humble to his core and that's what drives his improvement.
I've had, I've had kids in the past that have had this kind of talent, but some of them never really progressed because they, ego got in the way. And Zander's one of those kind of kids that you're just really blessed to have. A hard worker, egoless type person.
Archibeque says in 40 years of coaching, he's only had a couple of runners with talent comparable to Cruzan. He thinks Cruzan is capable of bringing home multiple state championships at the end of the month. His times are among the top times in the state this season, and just as importantly, they're coming down, seemingly weekly. The 10.75 second 100-yard dash time posted at the Ron Keller Invitational in Durango ranks among the state's top 10 times in any classification, but his performances in the 200 have been even more impressive. The 21.26 posted at the Durango meet marked the second time there had been a sub 22 second run in Colorado in AAA this season. Cruzan ran them both. The Montezuma Cortez Senior believes the new approach will continue to pay dividends in the 200.
Arch is emphasizing me running this 400, which is going to better me for the 200. So as long as I keep preparing for this run, this 400, it's only going to better my times than the one and two. You know, train long to run short. It makes sense.
If his times continue to drop, Cruzan could win some hardware as Colorado's top 200 meter sprinter at states. Cruzan knows that's not a given.
There's a lot of factors, a lot of factors going into it, making sure I'm all caught up on my sleep. You know, schoolwork being eligible. It's a big thing, you know, I got to stay on top of that. But yeah, nutrition, sleep, and making sure your training right, you know. Like my coach says, it's just failing to prepare is preparing to fail. So I just got to stay on top of all this stuff and make sure I'm doing everything I can do to be ahead of the game.
However his season ends. there is still plenty of running ahead for Cruzan, as he's committed to race with the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley starting in the fall. Cruzan thinks he might major in exercise science but says he has an open mind about his academic track. There'll be plenty of time to think about that later. For now, Cruzan is focused on competing through the end of this season. Learn more about this story and others at montezumalocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Roundup. I'm Connor Shreve.
