Area cross-country teams gathered under clear skies on Saturday for the Mancos-hosted Chicken Creek Challenge.
And Mancos junior Simon Kearns took home first place to win his second consecutive race as the Blue Jays finished second as a team.
Kearns (17:49.60) was followed by teammate Teslin Stecher (18:56.26) in ninth place and Jake McKie (19:33.95) finished 14th. Caleb Yoder (19:56.11) finished 21st, Ryoya Shima (20:08) was 24th, Zane Wilson (21:21.65) finished 36th and Alex Fleitz (23:19.68) was 46th.
Brandon Sehnert (24:44.92) and Griff Huver (27:40.53) finished 17th and 24th, respectively, in the junior varsity race.
The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers finished in fifth in the team standings, with senior Josh Ramos (18:47.51) leading the way with his seventh-place finish.
Reid Littlefield (19:24.77) crossed the finish line in 13th place, Sonny Boren (20:21.20) finished 25th and Will Brown (21:42.13) placed 40th for the Panthers. And then Blair Rice (23:25.73), Marcus Amrine (23:27.36) and Noah Peterson (24:35.67) rounded out the group in 47th, 48th and 50th.
The two Dolores runners, Brennan Hite and Phillip Hufman, stuck together until around the final half mile of the race when Hite pulled away. Hite (19:46.48) finished 16th and Hufman (20:06.04) was 23rd.
The Montezuma-Cortez Lady Panthers were the highest placing area team in the girls race, finishing in fifth.
Caisey Duran (23:10.52) was their top placer, finishing sixth, and Emma Thissen (23:52.24) was close behind in 15th. Then Sam Bagge (25:22.87) finished 26th, Regina Schuster (26:08.36) was 33rd, Maya LaMunyon (31:20.94) finished 37th and Corinne Damore (31:51.19) was 38th.
The Mancos Lady Blue Jays were just behind in the team standings in sixth.
Emma Most (23:21) was the top finisher in 10th place, and Kaylee Rose (24:34.69) and Hannah Skinner (25:31.62) followed in 21st and 28th respectively. Then Jessalyn-Bay Voit (26:02.22) took 32nd and Mimi Archuleta (28:49.39) finished 36th.
The Lady Jays had three top-15 finishers in the junior varsity race.
Maggie Delaney (26:01.17) finished sixth, Olivia Coppinger (27:17.82) was 11th and Hakayla Snow (28:55.91) finished 15th.
Mancos is back in action on Tuesday at the Del Norte Invitational, and then all three schools will race at the John Thornton Invitational in Blanding on Wednesday.