Comet XC teams back from biennial trip to the Rockies

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Some teams get off to a rocky start.

Every other year, Charles City’s cross country teams get off to a “Rockies” start.

Members from the Comets boys and girls squads are back in town and closer to sea level (about 1,000 feet) after returning from the teams’ biennial trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colo.

“We took 46 kids down for this year’s trip,” said Comet boys head coach Ryan Rahmiller who, with his wife and Comet girls head coach Amanda Rahmiller, have organized team trips to the Rockies since 2010.

This was the Comets’ fifth trip.

“We stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies … they provide a safe, fun atmosphere,” Rahmiller said. “I always loved going there when I was a kid. For us now, it’s a great way to know the kids in ways you wouldn’t know by just coaching them.”

In addition to sightseeing and exploring the high terrain, the Comets also did some trail runs.

“Really, we’re not down there long enough for the body to adjust to the high altitude where it makes a difference when we come back here,” Rahmiller said.

But senior Whitney Martin, after completing the team’s first official practice on Monday, says she feels the difference.

“You come back here and running seems easier,” said Martin, who was a medalist at last year’s State Cross Country Championships where she placed 14th and helped the Comet girls place fifth in Class 3A.

Kiki Connell, who placed sixth for the Comets last year as a freshman despite running most of the race with one shoe, also made the trip to Colorado.

“We talked as a team around the campfire about what we wanted to achieve this season,” said Connell, who unfortunately had to return home early due to an illness.

Comet senior Mason Deeter, who qualified to state as an individual with fellow senior Nick Litterer and 2018 graduate Gavin Connell, says he enjoys the team trips to the Rockies.

“It’s was a lot of fun,” Deeter said, “and it’s a great place to train.”

At Rocky Mountain National Park, there’s a Trail Ridge Road and accompanying hiking paths that offer passages to plateaus more than 12,000 feet above sea level.

“There’s even a sign where people can take pictures and selfies to show that they reached 12,000 feet,” Rahmiller said.

From that high perch, the team set up a photo of the mountain tops in the distance while including in the foreground a flat stone with the inscription #LuftTuff.

It was in  memory of Logan Luft, a school record-setting XC and track runner for Charles City Middle School who died in an ATV accident on July 4, 2017 before what would have been his freshman season with the Comets.