MANCOS – With the championship portion of the season on the horizon, Montezuma County schools convened Saturday at the Chicken Creek Trail System for one final regular season meet before the regional meets.
Mancos senior Edgar Hernandez paced the boys’ field to pick up another individual victory, while Bluejay freshman Teagan Archer picked up her inaugural individual victory in the girls’ race.
On the rolling terrain of Chicken Creek, the Bluejay girls posted three top 10 finishers to nab the team title as well.
Archer ran away from the field, leading four freshmen who finished in the top seven in the field. Her time of 22:51 won the meet by 30 seconds, adding another accolade to her strong campaign.
Teammates Madilynn Ritter (24:40), a junior, and freshman Adaline Kearns (24:47) finished not far behind, taking sixth and seventh, respectively.
Sophomore Clara Most (26:06) took 16th, while classmate Chloe Endres (26:47) crossed in 20th to round out the scoring for head coach Brady Archer’s Jays.
Their total of 35 points edged Pagosa Springs (48 points) and Dolores (59 points).
Along with Mancos, the Bears have enjoyed a youth movement, with four freshmen leading the team throughout the season. Elia Lowe topped the Dolores effort at Chicken Creek, running to a fifth-place finish in 24:39.
Maya Lowe (25:47) took 12th, while Kiera LaRose (26:05) and Siena Parr (26:28) finished in 15th and 17th place.
Junior Noble Traweek took 38th place to finish out the Dolores scoring five.
Montezuma-Cortez landed a fifth-place team finish, led by senior Emalie Myers’ 22nd-place individual performance in 27:11.
On the boys’ side, Mancos benefited from Hernandez’s 29-second victory, along with senior Connor Sehnert’s third-place performance. Hernandez finished in 18:40 while Sehnert raced to a time of 19:18.
Sophomore Braxton Dennison took 22nd overall in 21:50 to help the Bluejays score 63 points, just behind meet victors San Juan (44 points) and runner-up Pagosa Springs (55).
M-CHS took fifth place as a unit, led by senior Jadon Elliot’s 23rd-place effort, crossing the line in 22:04. Freshman Ben Hoffman finished 15 seconds and two places behind.
Dolores freshman Alex Heppler topped the Bears’ effort, taking 39th in 25:08.
The Bears and Bluejays travel to Delta to take part in the 2A Region 4 meet at Confluence Park on Friday, Oct. 22. The same day, the Panthers compete against the 3A Region 1 field at VIX Park in New Castle. Top performers from each meet will advance to the State Championships on Saturday, Oct. 30 at the Norris Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs.
