Before their regional preview at Delta on Friday, the Montezuma-Cortez cross-country team traveled to Monticello last Wednesday for the Loyd’s Lake Classic.
Sonny Boren led the boys, finishing in eighth place with a final time of 18:36. He was closely followed by Reid Littlefield in 11th (18:45). Blair Rice and Riley Whiteskunk rounded out the varsity team with 23:45 and 27:17 finishes.
The top finisher for the varsity girls was transfer student Emma Thissen, who crossed the finish line in 19th place with a time of 25:14. Corinne Damore and Rachel Zetts finished 24th (26:20) and 25th (26:20.5), with Judy Ha closing out the group in 34th (28:26).
Lynda LaPaz, Erica Wilson and Taryn Wilson represented the Panthers junior varsity team, and all three finished in the top 12. LaPaz was 5th (29:15), Erica Wilson finished 7th (30:04) and Taryn Wilson in 12th (35:03).
The junior varsity boys also finished close together, with Kyle Talley in 34th (28:03), Keland Billie 36th (31:03) and Tristen Harris finishing 40th (32:36).
After the race on Wednesday, the Panthers traveled to Delta on Friday for their regional preview, and every runner improved their time from the previous meet.
Boren again led the boys, finishing in under 18 minutes and in 19th place at 17:50, followed by Littlefield in 21st (17:54) and Rice and Whiteskunk in 91st (22:23) and 94th (24:08).
Thissen also set the pace for the girls team in their second meet, finishing 41st (22:54). Damore (24:13), Zetts (24:54) and Ha (26:27) finished 55th, 59th and 68th.
The Panthers’ next meet is Friday, Sept. 11 in Durango.