Looking anything but rusty in his first cross-country meet of the prep season, Mancos High School sophomore Edgar Hernandez showed the type of conditioning and grit that could one day make him a star while racing to a top finish at the Boggy Draw Bear Chase in Dolores on Aug. 23.
Hernandez was joined at the top of the boys standings by sophomore teammate Connor Sehnert, who placed third overall (21 minutes, 7 seconds) and senior teammate John Lund, who crossed the line in fourth place (21:22).
Also performing well in their first meet of the season were Montezuma-Cortez High School teammates Davian Robinson and Jadon Elliott, who crossed the line in fifth place (21:31) and sixth place, respectively (24:16).
Dolores High School, which hosted the meet, saw many of its male runners perform well as freshman Michael Brafford finished eighth, sophomore Daniel Vandever placed 12th, freshman Triston Scott finished 14th (28:38), and freshman Keegan Heaton placed 15th overall (29:51).
Male runners from Mancos, Dolores, M-CHS, and Telluride competed in the boys high school race, which featured 15 runners overall.
On the girls side, Mancos junior Grace Manning paced local competitors with a second-place finish (23:55). Junior teammate Kaysi Thomas placed ninth overall (28:55). Mancos finishers were rounded out by freshman Madi Ritter, who finished 14th (32:19), and junior Kylie Guiles, who placed 17th (33:55).
Several members of the M-CHS girls team also performed admirably as junior Ridley Dennison finished third (25:28), junior Trinity Meyers placed sixth (27:30), and sophomore Emalie Myers finished eighth (29:40). Sophomore Marina Bradley placed 10th (28:55), sophomore Kalea Hunt finished 11th (30:15), and freshman Llaria Sanchez crossed the line in 16th (33:53).
Junior Anaya Martinez, who was the sole female from Dolores to compete in the race, finished seventh overall (28:03).