For the Montezuma-Cortez High School and the Dolores High School cross-country teams, appearances at their regional meets failed to yield any state qualifiers. Underclassmen on both teams showed potential, however, while providing hope that the future of their respective programs would be bright.
Elliott and Dennison lead M-CHS
Competing at the Class 3A Region 1 championship meet at Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel, Colorado, on Oct. 18, several runners from the M-CHS girls and boys cross-country teams performed well.
Among them was junior Ridley Dennison, who paced the girls team, finishing 40th overall with a time of 22:46.50.
Sophomore Emalie Myers was second across the line for the M-CHS girls with a time of 23:22.40, which was good enough for 46th place. Sophomore Marina Bradley was not far behind, in 47th place with a time of 23:38.60.
Rounding out the M-CHS girls team’s finishers was sophomore Kalea Hunt, who crossed the line 65th (25:50.50) in the 87-runner field.
On the boys side, M-CHS was led by sophomore Jadon Elliott, who ran to an 80th-place finish with a time of 21:50.70. Sophomore Kiernan Korthank crossed the line in 83rd place (22:21.80), and senior Giovanni Carta placed 85th (22:35.00).
Last across the line for the M-CHS boys team was sophomore Joshua Chen, who placed 93rd out of 96 runners with a time of 24:22.70.
Gunnison High School captured the boys championship, and while Basalt High School finished first among the girls teams.
Dolores team closes out season on high note
After beginning the season with a roster full of inexperienced underclassmen, the Dolores High School boys cross-country team ended its year at the Class 2A Region 4 championship meet at Confluence Park in Delta, Colorado on Oct. 18 with high hopes for its future.
Leading the way for the group was freshman Michael Brafford, who crossed the line in 26th place with a time of 19:44.80. Freshman Keegan Heaton finished 40th (20:43), and sophomore Daniel Vandever placed 51st (21:11.45).
Freshman Triston Scott and freshman Kyler Acree placed 66th (22:20.54) and 81st (32:46.87), respectively, in a field that included 83 total runners. The Dolores boys team finished 13th in the team standings as Mancos High School won the meet.
On the girls side, Dolores was represented by junior Anaya Martinez, who finished 32nd out of 70 runners with a time of 24:27.08. Seventy girls competed in the race, and Soroco High School captured the team championship.