Hosting their 2024 home meet amid almost impossibly idyllic conditions Friday morning, Dolores cross-country runners put forth top-five effort in the high school girls and boys races at the sixth annual Boggy Draw Bear Chase.
“I thought they did great,” said Dolores head coach Angie Lowe. “Our kids who have run this race prior, we were looking for them to PR this course – and we had a lot of kids do that today. So that was awesome.”
Seniors Elia and Maya Lowe placed 10th and 11th, respectively, with times of 23:51.50 and 24:55.94. Freshman Emilynn Hill came in 14th, clocking 25:25.29, and classmate Emma Nielson took 21st in 26:54.28 – giving the Lady Bears an adjusted score-4 total of 53 points.
Prevailing via tiebreaker – a higher-placing No. 5 runner – Telluride earned the team title despite matching Monticello, Utah’s low of 33, while Pagosa Springs ended up third with 43.
Additionally for Dolores, senior Keira LaRose (27:01.53) came in 23rd, freshman Heidi Beyhan (27:31.17) 24th, and senior Coralea Wright (32:32.97) 37th.
“I think both Elia and Maya PR’d,” Lowe said. “We’re really working on running as tight as we can … and it looked like we were running as a pack. You’ve got a lot of big teams here, and for coming in fourth I’m super-proud of them.”
Finishing 8.64 seconds ahead of Telluride junior Austin Cook, Monticello senior Marah Long earned the individual title by running a 21:20.43. Telluride freshman Liv Speck placed third in 22:42.29.
The boys’ champion was Blanding, Utah, San Juan junior Rosendo Martine, who finished in 18:56.38 with three teammates – including runner-up Austin Pincock (19:11.98), a senior – following in swift succession as the Broncos easily bagged the team title with a race-low perfect score of 10 points.
DHS ended up a strong second-place squad, with junior Aaron Nielson (19:28.31) placing fifth and pacing the Bears to a score-4 count of 35. Sophomore Owen Lowe clocked an eighth-place 19:55.11, freshman Joseph Padilla took 12th in 20:14.75, and junior Bridger Beyhan was 15th in 20:23.29.
“I mean, they’re just getting faster each week,” said Lowe, “and running as a pack. You’ve got the front two, then the 3-4-5 all kind of together. I thought they did great to finish second as a team, with the caliber of teams that were here.”
Sophomores Corvin Smith (21:37.41) and Orin Samulski (21:43.66) finished 28th and 29th, while freshmen Levi Rantz (24:20.08) and Nathan Gaddis (24:51.55) took 47th and 52nd, respectively. Classmates Matthew Vega (55th, 26:22.24), Ranger LaRose (58th, 27:08.27), Sam Morey (59th, 28:52.72) and Bodhi Patillo (61st, 32:30.65) rounded out Dolores’ showing.
Dolores will next travel to Delta on Friday for the Sweitzer Lake Invitational.
“For us it’s a new course, and … looks to be faster,” Lowe said, “so the kids are psyched. This has been a special season and I think it’s just going to continue to be, you know? We’re looking to make it to state – both teams – this year.”
