After a regular season that seemed to fly by, area cross-country teams will take to their respective regional championships in an attempt to qualify for state.
On Friday, the Mancos Blue Jays and Dolores Bears will run at the Class 2A Region 4 Cross-Country Championship, while the Montezuma-Cortez squads race in the Class 3A Region 1 Championship. Both of the events will be held at Confluence Park in Delta, with races beginning at noon.
Alan Versaw, head coach of The Classical Academy, recently previewed upcoming regional races for ColoradoTrackXC of MileSplitCO. And while Josh Ramos was his only projected state qualifier from M-CHS or Dolores, he’s taken notice of both the Mancos girls and boys.
While Versaw believes Telluride is the heavy favorite to win the Class 2A girls regional, he expects the Lady Jays to be in the mix for a state-qualifying spot as a team.
“The fourth, and final, state-qualifying position appears to be much more up in the air,” he wrote. “Mancos and Hotchkiss have the best opportunities, but it’s not out of the question for Soroco, Ouray, or Meeker, provided that any or all of those three show up to the starting line with at least three competitors.”
In the event that the Lady Jays fail to qualify as a team, Versaw imagines both Kaylee Rose and Emma Most have a good shot at qualifying as individuals.
As for the Class 2A boys race, Versaw likes the Blue Jays.
“Mancos looks like a strong favorite to take the regional crown,” he wrote. “And, the Blue Jays’ depth makes it pretty difficult to believe they wouldn’t advance to state even if they had to go to regionals without a key runner due to sickness or some other unforeseen factor.”
The Jays’ deep pool of talent includes Simon Kearns, Jake McKie, Teslin Stecher, Caleb Yoder and Ryoya Shima, among others. And after finishing in third place at the state meet last year, Mancos will look to punch its ticket for a return trip on Friday in Delta.