Cortez Middle School fall sports recap

‘B’ football team wins San Juan League championship
Cortez Middle School quarterback Ethan Long carries the ball earlier this season.

If athletic success at the middle school level one day translates into success the high school level, the future of prep sports in Cortez will be exciting.

FOOTBALL TEAM BRINGS HOME CHAMPIONSHIP

Leading the way for middle school this fall was the B football team, which finished with a 5-2-1 record and brought a San Juan League football championship to Cortez for the first time in 10 years.

Highlighting the B team’s season was an outstanding performance in the championship game against Pagosa Springs, which ended with a 41-6 Cortez victory.

“Our kids worked hard all season long and earned this one,” said head coach Dylan Ferguson. “Most of these kids have been together for five years with the Titans. This was their time.”

Although the CMSA team did not fair as well as the B team, finsihing with a 0-6 record, the group still play hard throughout the season.

“The kids played hard and left everything on the field,” said Ferguson. “We are very proud of these guys for not giving up, and fighting until the end.”

CROSS COUNTRY ENJOYS

IMPROVEMENTS

Although the CMS cross-country team failed to win a meets during the fall season, the team produced several second-place finishes and saw improvement from all its runners.

“The girls team had a great season,” said head coach Rosalind Garcia. “They finished second five times.”

Runners cited by Garcia for their outstanding performances were Corinne Damore, Morgan Short and Regina Schuster.

On the boys side, CMS finished second once and had what Garcia described as “a good season.”

“Our two standout runners were Sunny Boren and Shawn HIggens,” said Garcia. “Kyle Talley also had his best season to date.”

VOLLEYBALL TEAMS FOCUS ON

FUNDEMENTALS

While the fall season did not produce as many wins as the CMS volleyball program might have liked, all four middle-school teams improved.

“Winning wise, we didn’t do too good,” said head coach Val Bauer. “The potential that these girls have excites me though. They improved a ton.”

Especially impressive to Bauer was the performance of CMS’s two C teams.

“Those girls on the C team, a lot of them do a really good job,” said Bauer. “Some of them will one day contribute to success at the high school level.”