After all the hard summer miles, many of the area distance runners stood on the starting line in the Boggy Draw trail system eager to learn where they stood against their Southwest Colorado peers.
The Dolores Bears cross-country program made sure to make a good first impression.
With substantial growth under head coach Angie Lowe, the Bears showed out in their opening salvo to the season, with the boys team collecting sixth, and the girls team placing four runners inside the top 25 individuals in the Boggy Draw Bear Chase.
Freshman Owen Lowe led the Bears in his high school debut, posting a time of 21:25 to earn 25th overall. Sophomore Aaron Nielson came in just behind, racing to a 30th-place finish in 22:10, while freshman Corvin Smith finished just five seconds and three places later. Freshman Orin Samulski (42nd, 23:02) and sophomore Josh Benally (55th, 25:30) rounded out a youthful Bear performance. Dolores tallied 152 points to finish sixth – the top team from Montezuma County in the meet.
The DHS girls showed their strength early this season, with juniors Elia Lowe and Everlee Heaton finishing 12th and 13th (Lowe, 24:35, and Heaton, 24:39) to pace the way. Maya Lowe (26:37) took 21st overall, while Siena Parr (27:34) came in 25th. While the meet was scored to require five runners to finish, the 2A Bears know that their four-runner score will be what will count when regionals roll around in mid-October.
Had the Bear Chase been scored for four runners, Dolores would have taken third as a team, behind Durango and San Juan.
The Mancos girls enjoyed their kickoff to the season, as well, as the Bluejays have notoriously gotten stronger as the season progresses. Their marks, as has been the case for the past two seasons, began with Teagan Archer, whose 18th-place finish (25:21) started a parade of Jays.
Sophomore Maddie Swortwood-Green took 24th (27:14), and senior Chloe Endres broke into the top 30 with a 29:13 5K, good for 29th. Junior Sarah Knezek (35th, 31:20), sophomore Tyla Henry (38th, 32:03), and senior Mandi Peacock (44th, 34:14) capped off the day for Mancos racers.
Meanwhile, Montezuma-Cortez had plenty of new faces leading the way.
Two freshmen crossed first for head coach Ro Paschal’s boys, as Cruz Plewe (21:34, 27th) and William Blair (22:22, 36th) began their high school careers on a high note.
Junior Corbin Myers took 43rd in 23:07 for the Panthers, followed by sophomores Roberto Sauzameda (54th, 25:17), Kenai Cotonuts (68th, 30:09) and freshman Orion Martineau (70th, 33:20).
Senior Heather Martinez led the girls team, taking 39th in 32:29, while junior Luna Moore came in just two places later in 33:03. Sophomore Esperanza Vargas (48th, 36:58) rounded out the Panther racing effort in their season opener.
M-CHS took eighth as a team in the boys race, while Durango swept both the boys and girls team titles.
Mancos and Dolores will head to Colorado Springs this weekend for their preview of the state championship course at the Norris Penrose Events Center in the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede. The Panthers, meanwhile, will stay closer to home, as they race at the Ignatius XC Invitational in Ignacio on Friday.
