In a rare weekend where the Mancos and Dolores cross-country programs didn’t directly compete against one another, the two programs both enjoyed top billing in their respective endeavors.
Mancos made the sojourn west to Blanding to face a primarily Utah-based field at the John Thornton Invitational, hosted by San Juan High School. After earning a tie for top spot the week before in Bayfield, sophomore Teagan Archer raced away from the field, winning by nearly 20 seconds, and continued to close in on a sub-20 minute 5K.
Her time of 20:13 helped her top a pair of Monticello sophomores, Marah Long and Lilly Burton, who were the only racers within a minute of the winning time. Three Mancos teammates finished within the top 15 in the field, helping the Jays to the overall team title.
Sophomore Adaline Kearns took seventh overall with a time of 22:23, while senior Madilynn Ritter collected 11th place (23:27). Junior Chloe Endres posted a 15th place finish, one minute behind Ritter’s effort. Sophomore Sarah Knezek rounded out the Mancos scoring with a 21st place run (25:35), helping the Jays to a total score of 32 points.
The Jays took the team title ahead of Enterprise (56), San Juan (74), and Parowan (80).
Heading east to the McGinn Challenge in Pagosa Springs, Dolores’ girls team put together a strong showing of their own. Head coach Angela Lowe’s Bears placed all four of their runners in the top 10 in the field, led by Elia Lowe’s third place run on the challenging course.
Lowe’s time of 25:08 placed her within a minute of race winner Tayte Hostetter of Centauri (24:17), while the rest of the Bears piled across the line in quick succession.
Keira LaRose took sixth (26:40), while Maya Lowe finished eighth (27:06) and Siena Parr landed in tenth (27:41). In the 2A regional meet coming up in less than a month, the competition will score the top four runners. Had the McGinn Invitational done the same process (rather than score five runners), the Bears would have taken runner-up spot to Centauri.
In the boys race, Dolores posted three individual finishers, led by freshman Bridger Beyhan, who took 19th (22:53). Teammates Aaron Nielson (23:27, 23rd) and Wyatt Kiddoo (25:44, 30th) rounded out the Bear performances.
Montezuma-Cortez sophomore Ben Hoffman collected an 18th place finish (22:50) in the boys race, while M-CHS juniors Savannah Hasselroth (15th, 29:39) and Heather Martinez (17th, 31:25) represented the Panthers in Pagosa Springs.
For the Mancos boys in Blanding, junior Braxton Dennison turned in a 30th place finish with a time of 20:04.
Dolores and Mancos will return to head-to-head competition next Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Chicken Creek Challenge through the wooded course north of Mancos. The Bluejays and Bears have two remaining meets before the teams will face off in the 2A Region 4 meet at Confluence Park in Delta on Oct. 21.
