Progress is the name of the game in cross country and wrapping up their regular season with two meets in three days, Mancos Bluejays harriers showed plenty of it.
JOHN THORNTON INVITATIONAL
Kicking off last week's competition on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the John Thornton Invitational in Blanding, the Bluejays faired well on an extremely difficult course.
Leading the way for the girls' team was Emma Most, whose time of 25:06 was good enough to place her eighth.
About 1 minute behind were Bluejays Hannah Skinner (26:04) and Kia Baikie (26:09), who finished 14th and 15th respectively.
Rounding out the Bluejays varsity girls, Jessalyn Bay-Voit finished 32nd (28:02) and Maya Bonde finished 50th (30:51).
As a team, the Bluejays placed fifth. North Sevier High School (Utah) was crowned team champions.
On the boys side, Justin Burton led the Bluejays as he has for the majority of the season, finishing 23rd with a time of 21:36.
Close behind were Asa Kearns (21:49) and Nic Archuleta (22:29), who finished 24th and 30th respectively.
"(Burton) did a nice job of staying with (Kearns) and (Archuleta) and helping pull them through the race," wrote Bluejays' head coach Brady Archer in an email to The Mancos Times.
Also running well for the Bluejays' boys, Vincent Grego finished 39th (22:55), Zane Goodell finished 58th (24:36) and Anthony Reiners finished 63rd (25:32).
As a team, the Bluejays finished fifth, while Monticello won the team title.
ERIC WOLFF INVITATIONAL
Two days after competing in Blanding, the Bluejays travelled to Monte Visa to compete in the Eric Wolff Invitational on Friday, Oct. 11.
Again leading the boys was Burton, who finished third overall with a time of 18:09.
Kearns followed with a 34th place finish (19:59), Archuleta was next in 47th (21:02) and Grego crossed the line in 52nd (21:15).
Rounding out the varsity boys were Goodell (21:36) and Reiners (22:41), who finished 57th and 62nd respectively.
As a team, the Bluejays boys finished eighth, while Alamosa won the team championship.
For the girls, Skinner led with a 13th-place finish (22:44), Most was next in 15th (22:55) and Baikie finished 18th (23:16).
Other varsity finishers for the Bluejays' girls included Bay-Voit in 24th (23:33) and Bonde in 49th (28:42).
As a team, the Bluejays girls finished third, two spots behind team champion Pagosa Springs.
"We had a number of season-best times (in Monte Vista)," wrote Archer. "It is really exciting to see everyone running so well as we get ready for our regional meet."
The 2A Region 4 meet is scheduled to take place Friday, Oct. 18, in Delta.
imaclaren@cortezjournal.com