The Dolores cross-country team was shorthanded during the Ramble at the Reservoir race at Ridgway State Park on Saturday.
With Brennan Hite and Tegan Hite - the No. 1 one runners for the boys' and girls' teams - out due to illness, the Bears had only two varsity runners compete.
Freshman Phillip Hufman finished in 13th place (22:05), and sophomore Cael McHenry was 27th (24:51).
Dolores Middle School runners had better finishes, with Tyler Cutrone placing sixth out of 79 runners with a time of 15:13.
Zander Eichner and Tim Wyman finished neck-and-neck for 20th and 21st place with times of 16:57 and 17:01.
The lone middle school girl was Maya LaMunyon, and after missing the start of the girls' race, she ran with the boys.
Head coach Nick Kohler said the mishap ended up being, "a blessing in disguise," and that LaMunyon's time of 22:00 would have been good for around 30th place out of 57 runners.
The Bears have two races this week.
First in Blanding, Utah on Wednesday, Sept. 23, then to the Pagosa Springs Classic on Saturday, Sept. 26.