Two-thirds of the way through the season, the Montezuma-Cortez cross-country team is hitting a rough patch of illness, injuries and scheduling conflicts.
But none of which stopped the Panthers from competing at Shiprock last Saturday, or racing at the John Thornton Invitational in Blanding on Wednesday.
And while some runners are overcoming minor setbacks, others are hitting their stride.
Josh Ramos, Sonny Boren and Reid Littlefield are the top three Panthers on the boys’ side, and while Littlefield missed the Shiprock meet and Ramos didn’t compete at Blanding, they have impressed head coach Paul Koops.
“My top three boys are just running really well right now,” Koops said on Thursday. “I’m kind of excited because they’re starting to get the feel for what it takes to compete at our level.”
Ramos finished in 22nd (18:04) at Shiprock and Boren was 38th (18:26), and they were followed by freshman Ben Castillo-Calvillo in 93rd (21:37).
“I was really pleased with the way (Castillo-Calvillo) ran down in Shiprock,” Koops said. “He’s so new to the sport and he just shows great heart.”
Blair Rice (23:53), Riley Whiteskunk (25:11) and Brenden Quinonez (25:33) rounded out the Panther boys.
The girls were led by Emma Thissen in 46th (24:30), with Corinne Damore in 62nd (25:50), Rachel Zetts in 67th (26:23) and Regina Schuster on her heels in 68th (26:24).
Koops noted that at Blanding on Wednesday, Schuster improved, finishing 11th with a time of 25:45.
“She brought a great attitude and was really motivated yesterday,” Koops said. “It was exciting to see that.”
Schuster was followed by Corinne Damore in 19th (27:23), Judy Ha in 25th (28:57) and Lynda LaPaz in 27th (29:19).
The boys had two runners finish in the top ten at Blanding, with Boren finishing in sixth place (19:07) and Littlefield in 8th (19:44).
Blair Rice (24:59) and Riley Whiteskunk (25:26) rounded out the Panthers in 40th and 42nd.
The Panthers will next travel to Connected Lakes State Park in Grand Junction for the Anna Banana Memorial Wildcat Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 10 a.m.