Manitou Springs cross-country coach Andy Sherwood compares his team to a sleeping giant.

In a trail running town that prides itself in the Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent, it takes the right combination of things to wake that sleeping giant.

“It’s not fully awake but we are getting there,” Sherwood said. “We hope to grow the size of the program and produce good teams in the coming years.”

The Mustangs’ girls’ cross-country team had a breakout season last season, taking their first league and regional titles in 25 years before finishing runner-up in the 3A state championship to The Classical Academy.

This year’s team, spread evenly across grade levels, is looking to carry that momentum into the fall and feel confident in doing so after only losing one of their top runners, Brenna Cote, to graduation.

“I certainly believe cross-country is 60% team sport and 40% individual and they have really embraced that,” Sherwood said. “They have excellent team culture, they support one another and are definitely pushing each other every day to get faster.”

This is Sherwood’s fourth year as head coach, and he says the team’s culture of hard work and consistency has improved each year, which has resulted in individual improvement. His first year, it was abnormal to see his runners running through Manitou Springs on their own, but now it’s a normal occurrence.

Two years ago, the girls team didn’t even qualify for state.

“They are motivated internally, and that’s my only goal,” Sherwood said, “I can’t force kids to go out and run, they have to do that on their own. Once you get that ingrained in the culture and that becomes the expectation, it really grows exponentially.”

The size of the team has doubled since Sherwood became head coach, with freshmen stepping up ready to build on the team’s yearly growth. He attributes that growth to the runners themselves and to the leaders on the team who organize runs and team-bonding activities.

“The boys and girls’ teams aren’t separated and we all support each other,” sophomore Chloe Bresnahan said. “Teamwork is our biggest strength and our leaders are a large part of that. They always create a positive vibe which makes it fun for everyone.”

That teamwork has resulted in a productive summer of training, perhaps their best yet, according to Sherwood. Whereas in the past there were some runners who wouldn’t run all summer, this year saw everyone getting in miles for a smoother transition into the season.

“With last season, we just had so much success and we are just hoping to carry into this season,” Bresnahan said. “All the freshmen are all sophomores now, and we know more about racing and have had a year of training, so I think we will come back stronger.”

“It’s really nothing I do as a coach, it’s just a really great group of kids and they love coming to practice every day and supporting one another,” Sherwood added. “It’s their ability to embrace the task, which is difficult. Being a distance runner is hard. You don’t get a ton of love like some other sports, but they just get out there every day and put in the work and that’s really admirable.”

Manitou Springs want a state championship, but the Titans won’t make it easy.

Last year at Norris Penrose Event Center, TCA placed five runners in the top 18 in the 3A girls’ state championship to win the team title with 38 points with the Mustangs following with 83. It was the Titans’ sixth title in the past seven years and the 16th in program history.

“Going into this season, we know it is going to be a pretty massive challenge to take down TCA,” Sherwood said. “They probably have one of the best teams they have ever had, which is saying something. But the girls are up for the challenge and try to stay in the moment every day at practice and not worry too much about Nov. 1.”

The Mustangs compete among some of the best programs in the nation, and they pride themselves in their development of runners, several of whom didn’t start running until high school.

With a solid summer of running and a roster bonded by a love of running, this might just be the year the giant is awakened.

“The bar has risen over time,” Sherwood said. “My expectations are always high, but my expectations are in that particular workout, not a race a week from now or even Nov. 1. If we can do the little things right every day and stay within ourselves, we can execute that same mentality on race day.”