On Friday, the Mancos cross-country team ran at the inaugural Southwest XC Challenge at Fort Lewis College in Durango.
Nine schools brought varsity, junior varsity and middle school runners to compete on a course that was part dirt road and part single-track trail.
The Mancos girls were led by varsity runner Kristin Adams, who finished the 5-kilometer course in 24 minutes, 1 second, which was good for 36th-place. Junior varsity runners Kia Baikie (24:18) and Maya Bonde (31:42) finished in sixth-place and 43rd, respectively. The varsity girls champion was Eva Lou Edwards from Bayfield in a time of 19:11. Host Durango won the girls team championship.
The Mancos varsity boys were led by Justin Burton, who ran to 20th-place in a time of 18:59. He was followed by Brandon McKie in 45th-place in a time of 20:38. The varsity boys champion was Jeffery Miller from Page (Ariz.) in a time of 17:06. Miller helped Page to the boys team title.
The junior varsity boys were led by a 13th-place finish turned in by Ro Paschal at a time of 20:21. Asa Kearns followed closely in 16th and a time of 20:25. Nic Archuleta was next across the finish line for the Bluejays in 44th-place and a time of 22:43. He was followed by Vincent Grego (23:06) in 49th-place and Zane Goodell (24:02) in 57th-place. The JV boys were fourth as a team out of the nine competing schools.
Our runners went up against some very good runners today. It was a tough course on the second part of the loop, because there was not a lot of room to pass on the single track. But I think our runners ran it fairly smart, Mancos coach Brady Archer said. Overall, I was happy to see where our runners ended up today. Some of them are still getting into good running shape, but they are all improving week by week and that is what I like to see. At these next couple of meets, our freshmen will get a chance to run with the varsity.
The Montezuma-Cortez High School girls were again led by Rachel Demby, who clocked in at 22:52.6 (20th). Julia Damore raced to a time of 26:29.1, which was good for 48th overall.
Dillon Wells paced the Panthers in 19:05.8 (21st). Teammates Jonathan Bloedel (40th), Chandler Dee (44th) and Taylor Wilson (54th) recorded times of 20:05.2, 20:24.8 and 22:01.7 to help the Panthers to an eighth-place team finish with 154 points.
The Dolores Lady Bears had Kayla Charles (46th) and Regan Umberger (50th) finish at 26:18 and 26:48.4.
On Friday, Mancos will compete in the Ramble at the Reservoir at Ridgway State Park, hosted by Ouray High School starting at 3 p.m. Mancos, Dolores and M-CHS will head over to the Mountain Chili Cha Cha in Pagosa Springs on Saturday with races starting at 9 a.m.
