How about this for a return? Making their first visit to the state meet since 2016, the Mancos girls cross-country runners announced their arrival on the state’s biggest stage with a 10th-place team finish at the 2A Cross Country Championships at the Norris Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs.
And the boys team continued what has become a nearly annual tradition of sending a squad to state, as the Bluejays took 16th in the field.
After a stellar regular season, freshman Teagan Archer capped her fantastic freshman year with a 20th place individual performance to lead the Jays, racing the tough trails around the Bear Creek Regional Park course, en route to a 22:00.8 time on the five-kilometer course. Archer showed patience from the opening mile, as she opened with a 6:48 mile, before picking her way up several places through the field in the latter stages.
Five of the six Bluejays to compete for head coach Brady Archer were underclassmen, including Adaline Kearns, a fellow first-year, who teamed up with junior Madilynn Ritter for some very effective course management. The duo opened up their first mile shoulder-to-shoulder, then supported each other in moving up 10 places over the back half of the race. Kearns took 51st in a time of 23:34.1, with Ritter just a one second and two places behind.
Sophomore Chloe Endres ran a steady race to cap off the team scoring for the Jays, taking 88th place in 25:10.7. Sophomore Clara Most and freshman Sarah Knezek took 101st and 105th, respectively, in their first state appearances. It was Most’s finish, though, that helped break a tie with Fountain Valley, pushing the Bluejays into the top half of the field.
Mancos scored 175 points, a steady improvement over their team placement at the one and two mile splits. Lake County took the team title with 48 points, while Nadhia Campos of The Vanguard School won the individual title, topping the field by 33 seconds to win in 18:47.5.
In the boys race, Edgar Hernandez has been no stranger to running distance races at the state championships. The senior has been an all-state performer in track and field, and put his final cross-country meet for the blue-and-white among his best performances, taking 19th individually to pace the Jays.
Hernandez surged out with the lead pack in the opening mile, just a few strides off the pace set by eventual meet champion Tyler Ball of Lyons. After cruising through the opening mile in 5:21, Hernandez pushed through the hills in the middle part of the course to stay among the leaders, before sprinting in with a time of 17:49.8.
Classmate Connor Sehnert held steady in the middle of the field, putting together a time of 19:09.6, good for 60th overall.
Sophomore Braxton Dennison took 92nd place in 20:19.9, while junior Soren Braford-Lefebvre crossed as the fourth Jay, rounding out their scoring with a 126th place finish in 22:16.9. Freshman Lucas Figueroa made his state meet debut with a time of 25:04.1, good for 132nd in the meet.
In the team standings, Mancos tallied 253 points, edging fellow Western Slope squads Centauri (255), Rangely (283), and Olathe (324). Heritage Christian Academy (54 points) squeaked past St. Mary’s (57) and Lyons (60) for the team title.
