Three meets into the season, the Montezuma-Cortez High School cross country is beginning to round into midseason form.
Running in Bayfield at the Southwest Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 14, several Panthers’ runners improved on last week’s times – demonstrating that hard training inevitably leads to quality results.
Leading the Panthers on the boys’ side was Justin Ramos, whose time of 19:42 was good enough for 24th place.
Following Ramos for the Panthers was Chandler Dee, who followed up last week’s impressive performance with a time of 20:06, which was good enough for 29th place.
Rounding out the Panthers’ varsity finishers, Jonathan Bloedel finished 38th with a time of 20:50, Taylor Wilson finished 43rd with a time of 21:36 and Brackin Whiteskunk finished 52nd with a time of 22:29.
Overall, the Panthers’ boys’ finished 8th, while Durango High School won the overall title.
“The team did pretty good,” said Whiteskunk. “It was a tougher meet than we’ve had all year. “We just have to keep working hard in practice.”
On the girls’ side, Rachel Demby again paced the Panthers with a time of 21:20, which was good enough for 5th place. Demby’s top-five finish was her third in as many tries this season.
Coming in behind Demby for the Panthers was Abby Lock, who, running well for the third consecutive week, finished 26th overall with a time of 24:37.
Next across the line for the Panthers was Elana Cope, whose time of 25:04 was good enough for 29th place.
Rounding out the varsity finishers for the girls team, Samantha Bagge finished 39th (25:44), Madison VanBibber finished 48th (28:39) and Kalie Singer finished 52nd (29:51).
As a team, the Panthers’ girls finished sixth, while Durango High School claimed the team title.
The Panthers will next compete Sept. 21 in Pagosa Springs before returning to the area on Sept. 28 to compete in the Chicken Creek Invitational in Mancos.