Dolores cross-country

High school facing low numbers, middle school excels

While the Dolores high school cross-country team is still battling injuries, the middle school runners are coming on strong.

At the John Thornton Invitational in Blanding, Utah on Wednesday, Tyler Cutrone finished 4th out of 71 runners with a time of 11:13. Zander Eichner and Tim Wyman followed in 24th and 25th, and Maya LaMunyon finished 47th out of 80 runners in the girls’ middle school race.

“She just keeps getting better,” head coach Nick Kohler said in an e-mail. “Her time of 17:32 was very good for her.”

The high school boys were led by freshmen Phillip Hufman (20:28) and Brennan Hite (20:31), who finished 14th and 15th, with fellow freshman Cael McHenry (22:15) finishing 32nd.

The Bears then raced at Pagosa Springs on Saturday, with Tim Wyman (13:20) leading the middle school boys with a 19th-place finish and Zander Eichner (13:46) finishing 29th.

The high school varsity teams were down to just Brennan Hite and Teegan Hite.

Brennan finished in 20:04 for a 28th-place finish on the boys side, while Teegan placed 26th for the girls with a time of 24:40.

The Bears will stay close to home this weekend and race in Mancos at the Chicken Creek Challenge, on Saturday, Oct. 3 beginning at 9 a.m.