MANCOS — Knowing the race route would be ready and willing to beat runners’ feet, Brady Archer helped all Chicken Creek Challenge entrants Saturday by electing to beat the heat.
“That was one thing that we wanted to have – a morning race – because it’s been so hot,” said the Bluejays head coach. “Get these kids out on a cool day for the last regular-season race of the year ... make sure it’s something memorable.”
The mostly forested course with its many obstacles wasn’t a problem for most harriers in the field of seven schools. But with virtually all competitors seeking something of a morale boost before the fast-approaching regionals and state championships, the Challenge’s 2020 edition saw several outstanding performances.
And for Mancos two state veterans led the way.
In the varsity girls event, senior Grace Manning placed third with a time of 22 minutes, 43 seconds, trailing only 4A Durango junior Bailey Freeman (22:40) and 3A Pagosa Springs senior Megan Greenly (22:33). And in the boys showcase, junior Edgar Hernandez placed third in 18:37, finishing behind only 3A Montezuma-Cortez senior John Whyte (17:54) and 3A Bayfield senior Zeb Shields (17:22).
Mancos junior Connor Sehnert took fourth in 19:23, and 2A San Juan Basin League rival Michael Brafford, a Dolores sophomore, rounded out the boys top five in 19:40. Farther back in the pack, freshman Connor Lee was Mancos’ third finisher, recording a 26th-place 22:56, and sophomore Soren Braford-Lefebvre ended up 32nd in 23:50.
“I was pretty happy for the guys,” said Archer, alluding to the individual efforts adding up to a fourth-place total of 65 points. “Our second runner, Sehnert, had a great race out there, and we’ve got two young guys. ... I’d told them, ‘Just try to win the second wave,’ and I thought they did a great job just trying to close as much of that gap (up to Sehnert and Hernandez) as they could out there.”
Trying to stay similarly near to Manning, freshman Chloe Endres was the second Lady Jay across the finish line, clocking a 15th-place 25:07, and sophomore Madilynn Ritter was a close 17th at 25:53.
“I think Madi had an outstanding race,” Archer said. “And we’ve got two freshmen — Chloe and Clara Most — and some other girls who had great races.”
Rounding out the girls’ contingent and flocking relatively together, Most took 21st in 26:16 with junior Aspen Bumgarner 24th in 27:58, senior Kylie Guiles 27th in 28:53, and freshman Mandi Peacock 29th in 29:52.
“Grace knew ... where she needed to be. She has a couple other runners from Ignacio we’ve been kind of going back and forth with,” Archer said, tipping the proverbial cap to SJBL talents Maci Barnes (fourth place, 23:02) and Charlize Valdez (fifth, 23:07) of the Lady Bobcats. “I think our girls kind of know we’ve got to close that gap a little bit to Grace, but as a bunch of young girls ... they’ve done an outstanding job each week getting a little better.”
Mixing varsity reserves with JV regulars, Durango still won the girls crown with a meet-low 27 points. Ignacio snagged second place with 36 and Pagosa third with 40, while the Lady Jays finished fourth with 56, and M-CHS followed with 73.
Bayfield’s adjusted score of 42 topped the boys’ table, leaving Durango’s understudies playing second fiddle with a 47. Montezuma-Cortez took third with 54, followed by Mancos (65), Pagosa Springs (67), Ignacio (71) and Dolores (84).
Up next for Mancos and Dolores, as well as Ignacio, Telluride and Ouray, will be the 2A-Region IV Championships, slated for Friday, Oct. 9, at Confluence Park in Delta.
M-CHS, meanwhile, will return to Hillcrest Golf Course in Durango that same day for the Bayfield-hosted 3A-Region I Championships. As of press time, Wolverine wrangler Josh Walton had confirmed a girls go time of 9 a.m. and a boys of 10.
Also at Chicken CreekMontezuma-Cortez senior Ridley Dennison paced the Lady Panthers by taking seventh overall in 24:03, while junior Emalie Myers placed 16th in 25:38 and senior Trinity Meyers 25th in 28:03.Sophomore Noble Traweek led Dolores with her 33rd-place 33:22, and freshman Piper Singleton took 35th for the Lady Bears in 37:13.Senior Wes Atcitty was the M-CHS boys’ No. 2, finishing 14th in 21:06, and sophomore Gabriel Crowley was No. 3 in a 17th-place 21:15Nearest Brafford in Dolores black was freshman Dillon Brengle, who took 22nd in 22:10. Junior Daniel Vandever finished 14 seconds later and earned 24th.