With a full boys squad for the first time in years, the Dolores cross-country program continues to showcase how high of a ceiling the future may hold.
That future appears closer with each passing week, as head coach Angie Lowe’s Bears have made a steady progression up the leader boards this season. A fifth-place showing at the Mancos-hosted Chicken Creek Challenge added another feather in the cap for the youthful Bears.
The Dolores team result highlighted the last meet of the season with all three Montezuma County schools taking to the same course. DHS finished two places in front of Montezuma-Cortez in the boys race, while the Mancos girls team took runner-up in their race, edging out third-place M-CHS.
For Dolores, sophomore Aaron Nielson posted the best effort of the day for any of the area boy runners, taking eighth place on the trails at Chicken Creek. Nielson’s time of 19:40 placed him as one of 12 runners to break the 20-minute barrier.
Freshman Owen Lowe narrowly missed a sub-20-minute race, earning 16th place with a time of 20:10. Classmate Corvin Smith took 36th in 21:31, while fellow freshman Orin Samulski took 49th (23:10), and senior Dillion Bringle landed in 53rd, crossing in 23:52. Freshman Grant Wright rounded out the Dolores competitors with a 67th-place finish (26:27).
Montezuma-Cortez continued the theme of strong Class of 2027 runners, with first-year Cruz Plewe leading the way with an 18th-place finish (20:27). A trio of Panthers followed in short order, with juniors Corbin Myers (33rd, 21:24), Ben Hoffman (34th, 21:26), and freshman William Blair (35th, 21:27) contributing to the Panthers’ seventh-place team finish.
Sophomore Roberto Sauzameda completed the scoring for M-CHS, taking 56th in 24:11.
Mancos senior Braxton Dennison represented the Bluejays in his final meet on his home course, earning 37th in 21:47.
In the girls race, junior Teagan Archer landed as the top Montezuma County runner, taking fourth in 23:37 to pace the Mancos second-place team performance. Sophomore Maddie Swortwood-Green earned 15th for the Jays, crossing the line in 26:26, just three places in front of senior Chloe Endres (18th, 26:55).
Sophomore Tyla Henry broke into the top 25 with a time of 29:18, while senior Mandi Peacock rounded out the scoring with a 35th place finish (31:48).
For Dolores, a trio of juniors ran to top-15 performances, led by Elia Lowe (seventh, 24:30), and followed by Everlee Heaton (10th, 25:19) and Maya Lowe (14th, 26:20). Classmate Coralea Wright wrapped up the Bear competitors with a 38th-place run (32:45).
M-CHS continued to build up their pack running in Mancos, as senior Savannah Hasselroth took 12th (26:10) to lead the way for the Panthers. Sophomore Tatum Endres claimed 22nd (28:15), followed by senior Heather Martinez in 23rd (28:49) and junior Luna Moore in 26th (29:43). Sophomore Esperanza Vargas capped the Panther scoring with a 33rd place run (31:26).
San Juan’s boys and girls teams took the team titles, while Monticello’s Marah Long won the girls race (22:49) and San Juan’s Edward Lyman (18:56) took the boys title.
Dolores heads to Blanding for the John Thornton Invitational on Wednesday, Oct. 4 in their final tuneup before the regional meet on Friday, Oct. 20, which the Bears will host at the Boggy Draw trail system.
