With all the marbles on the line, Mancos found one more gear.
After a season filled with top finishes, the Bluejays clawed for every place – and they needed each one – en route to a fifth-place team finish in the 2A Region 4 meet.
The Jays flew around the Confluence Park course, nabbing a couple of key season-best performances, which will propel Mancos to a return trip to the State Championship meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Sophomore Teagan Archer continued to lead the blue-and-white pack, taking sixth in the meet (20:35) – and now the Bluejays will bring plenty of state meet experience, as all four runners in their scoring pack competed in the 2021 state meet.
Head coach Brady Archer’s runners seemed to sense the magnitude of the moment, as sophomore Adaline Kearns posted a tremendous performance to take 15th overall, thanks to a new-best time of 21:35.
On the flat track bordering the Gunnison and Uncompahgre Rivers, senior Madilynn Ritter took 24th place, just over a minute behind Kearns (22:36), while junior Chloe Endres took 55th (24:49) to help the Bluejays score 95 points.
The regional field proved to be one of the deepest in recent memory, with the addition of 2A power Lake County and the emergence of Caprock Academy as a strong program – making Mancos’ state qualifying performance all-the-more difficult.
Junior Mandi Peacock took 65th (26:02), and freshman Maddie Swortwood-Green finished 71st (26:30) as the Jays will see some of their youth movement perform on the state’s highest level.
Dolores, meanwhile, finished just outside of the state cut line, finishing seventh as a team with 120 points.
The Bears posted several season-best efforts, led by Elia Lowe’s 19th place – just four spots off an individual qualifying spot – with a time of 21:56.
Following in quick succession, Keira LaRose (26th, 22:42) and Siena Parr (38th, 23:40) also claimed their fastest races of 2022. Maya Lowe rounded out the scoring for the sophomore-led Bears with a 23:59 5K to take 47th, while senior Noble Traweek capped her cross-country career in 90th place (31:29).
Lake County (25 points) took the regional title, ahead of Caprock Academy (43), Olathe (76), and North Fork (77), with Mancos edging Crested Butte for the final state spot.
In the boys race, neither Mancos nor Dolores had enough competitors to field a complete team, but that didn’t stop the Bluejays and Bears from posting strong final races.
All three Bears athletes ran their fastest times of the season, as freshman Aaron Nielson took 56th overall with a time of 20:47, and classmate Bridger Beyhan took 68th in 21:56. Sophomore Wyatt Kiddo rounded out the Bears effort with a time of 22:21, good for 74th.
Mancos junior Braxton Dennison ran a 20:00 5K, taking 42nd in the process, while senior Soren Braford-Lefebvre capped his high school cross-country career with a 61st-place finish (21:01).
Mancos will toe the line in the 2A championship race at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, on the rigorous course at the famed Colorado Springs rodeo venue and surrounding Bear Creek Regional Park. The Jays finished 10th as a team in 2021, and look for another strong finish to cap the campaign.
