Again giving regional cross-country runners a sense of what the sport’s all about, Dolores High School’s second annual Boggy Draw Bear Chase got the fall 2020 campaign underway Friday over hill and dale north of town off Montezuma County Road W.
“I think last year the meet was ran well, so I think the word got out that we do run a good meet,” said Dolores head coach Jeromie Schumacher. “There’s a lot of ‘cross-country’: You’ve got hills, you’ve got wide-open by the power lines, you’ve got single-track, you’ve got that road crossing. ... I get coaches saying that it’s probably one of the hardest courses they’ll run all season; I’d have to agree with that.”
“When you look at our course and then at the rest of the season, you’re like, ‘Well, we made it through Boggy Draw; everything else we can handle!’”
Up to the task on the rugged, all-terrain route, sophomore Michael Brafford was the 2A Bears’ top finisher with a strong fifth-place run in 19 minutes, 42 seconds. Freshman Dylan Koskie was one of numerous runners slowed by Boo-Boo Hill – named for TV character Yogi Bear’s homie, rather than as an allusion to injury – and placed 15th in 21:52.
“Michael ... put his time in this summer, so that’s a big change in his story,” Schumacher said. “Koskie ... I think his story is the result of losing football this fall. But ... just knowing him, he has some ability for distance and he did great.”
Junior Daniel Vandever, Dolores’ third entrant, came in 35th at 28:48.
Pagosa Springs 3A senior Gabe Heraty was the individual champion in 17:59, 22 seconds faster than runner-up Zeb Shields, a senior at 3A Bayfield.
On the girls’ side, senior Anaya Martinez was Dolores’ No. 1, clocking in at 28:12 and placing 17th. Freshman Piper Singleton took 37th in 43:43, and sophomore Noble Traweek was only one tick behind.
“I thought they did great, you know, considering not having much experience,” said Schumacher. “That’s a big factor. But going from only one girl last year to three right now, I’m happy with that.”
Durango’s Kristina Bodewes and Angelina Kondrat ran 1-2 in 22:16 and 22:25, respectively, while Pagosa Springs’ Michelle Sauceda placed third in 23:05. M-CHS senior Ridley Dennison paced all county entrants with her ninth-place 25:52, and junior teammate Emalie Myers (27:52) was next closest in 15th.
Sophomore Madilynn Ritter led Mancos’ Lady Jays with her 18th-place 28:28, with freshman teammate Clara Most in 20th, about 29 seconds behind.
“I was super-impressed just because we had all these teams,” said Schumacher, referring to the Chase expanding to nine programs, including Bayfield and 3A Blanding, Utah. “And who knows what you’re going to get when it comes to just following CHSAA’s guidelines of masks and social distancing! I thought that all went pretty well at our meet.”
With all boys teams able to enter at least three individuals, a score-3 system would have shown San Juan High School claiming first place with a meet-low 20 (4-6-10) points. Pagosa (1-16-18) followed with 35, while Durango’s 40 (8-13-19) narrowly bettered Mancos’ 43 (3-11-29) in the battle for third.
Bayfield (50), Dolores (55), M-CHS (64), 2A Telluride (80) and 2A Ignacio (88) followed in the standings, as Ignacio fielded its first varsity boys crew in decades.
Excluding Bayfield’s two individuals from score-3 methodology, Durango earned the team title with a low score of 7 (1-2-4) points, while Pagosa followed with 15 (3-5-7) and Ignacio captured third with a total of 38 (6-14-18). Rounding out the standings were San Juan (42), M-CHS (49), THS (56), MHS (62) and Dolores (87).
Up next for Cortez, Dolores and Mancos is the Aug. 28 M-CHS Invitational at Parque de Vida in Cortez at 5 p.m.