The Telluride High School runners are on a new mission with a new coach.

The Miners’ cross country teams also are off to a fast start in the 2017 quest for regional and state honors.

Soleil Gaylord and Jaden Evans are setting that fast pace for Telluride with each of the runners collecting top early season results.

Gaylord, a senior who has been on the podium at the State Cross Country Championships for three consecutive years, won her division at the prestigious Liberty Bell Invitational in Littleton on Sept. 8. The Liberty Bell meet is a large Front Range cross country meet that includes several top high schools from Wyoming.

A four-time state champion on the track, Gaylord ran the 5K Liberty Bell race in 19 minutes and 6 seconds, finishing well ahead of second-place Anna Ponzi of Colorado Academy (19:13).

Alyssa Wells of Holy Family finished third.

“We wanted … to give her (Gaylord) the experience of running against a bigger field,” said first-year Telluride head coach Erin Thompson. “She’s … going to run in college; she needs that.”

Thompson, a former runner in the Miners’ cross country program, took over this season after the retirement of longtime coach Keith Hampton.

“I’m so excited for the program,” said Thompson, the Telluride alum who attended Fort Lewis College and returned to teach sixth-grade social studies. “I’ve stepped into an amazing group.”

She said the Telluride runners returned from the summer with solid mileage under their belts.

“We came back with a strong base. They know … what’s ahead,” said Thompson, who on Sept. 8 was in Grand Junction, where the Miners competed in the annual Tiger Invitational at Canyon View Park.

She watched as Evans, a Telluride junior, ran to a second-place finish on the figure-8 course around the sprawling park complex on Grand Junction’s north side.

He settled into an early lead group with four other runners — all from larger high schools.

Evans, in the third and final mile, pulled into second place after Grand Junction Central’s David Cardenas stepped away to take the solo lead.

Cardenas won in 16:11.0; Evans finished second in 16:45.6.

Tyman Smart of Central was third with Gunnison’s Colton Stice fourth.

Greeley Central won the boys team title at the Tiger Invitational with Gunnison second and Central third.

Gunnison won the girls division. North Sevier High School of Salina, Utah, finished second among the girls with Summit third.

“The humidity was rough. It was very, very hot,” Evans said after his mid-afternoon finish at the Grand Junction meet — the temperature was 90 degrees. 

“And you think it’s a pretty fast course here, but it tricks you. There’s grass; there’s mud; there’s concrete; it definitely works your muscles.”

Evans, who also had a second-place finish in the season-opening Pre-State Cross Country Meet in Colorado Springs two weeks ago, said he used the Grand Junction event for race training.

“I wasn’t approaching this race with a time because it is such an unusual course,” he said of the Canyon View Park layout. “My goal was just to compete with other runners. I was always keeping a gap of no more than 3 meters. I just wanted to learn how to compete against other runners.”

The lead group obliged with runners from Central, Gunnison and Greeley Central along with Evans.

“At the end of the second mile, I tried to pick it up … I’ve been working on trying to finish strong,” said Evans, the son of Julie and Ian Evans.

He credited a regular summer running regimen for his results thus far this season.

Evans is joined on the Telluride boys team by Meshach Gomberg, Spencer Keating and Adrian Scheibler.

The Telluride girls team includes Gaylord, Lydia Hagan, Isabelle Bennett, Delaney Spires and Lucy Van Sant.

The Miners competed Saturday (Sept. 16) in the Gunnison Invitational. Those results will be reported soon; the Daily Planet’s press time for Sunday’s paper was 5 p.m. Friday.

Next week, the Miners will run in the annual cross country meet at Ridgway State Park.

They are scheduled to race in Delta on Sept. 29 and in Aspen on Oct. 7.

After the Montrose Relays on Oct. 14, the Miners will compete in the Class 2A Regional Championships at Confluence Park in Delta on Oct. 20.

The annual State Cross Country Championships will be held Oct. 28 in Colorado Springs.