The Mancos cross-country team ran at two meets last week.
First, the Blue Jays traveled to Blanding, Utah for the John Thornton Invitational, where senior Ro Paschal won the boys’ race with a 17:47 finish.
Simon Kearns (18:28) followed in third place and Nic Archuleta (19:26) finished seventh. Jake McKie (20:07) and Teslin Stecher (20:58) were the final scoring Blue Jays, finishing in 11th and 21st and giving Mancos a 25-point advantage over Monticello to place first as a team.
The Mancos girls took second as a team, with Emma Most (23:49) finishing in second place and Brittney Peacock (24:12) in fourth. Kaylee Rose (25:54) finished 12th, Jessalyn Bay-Voit (29:18) placed 26th and Mimi Archuleta (29:20) took 28th.
Ro Paschal again led the Blue Jays on Saturday at the Pagosa Springs Invitational, where he set a new course record of 17:07 on his way to a first place finish.
Nic Archuleta (18:39) finished in 13th place, Asa Kearns (20:00) in 26th and Vincent Grego (20:44) was 36th. Andrew Christensen and Zane Goodell finished together in 21:33 for 50th and 51st, and Joseph Knezek (23:21) and Luke Christensen (34:00) were the final Blue Jays runners in 63rd and 72nd.
The girls’ team was down a few runners as they continue to battle illness and injury, but Brittney Peacock led the way with a 19th place finish in 23:36.
Jessalyn Bay-Voit (25:33), Hannah Skinner (26:28) and Mimi Archuleta (27:26) finished 30th, 43rd and 51st.
“Overall, I think our runners did a great job at two meets where we had some different goals,” head coach Brady Archer said in an e-mail on Sunday.
“Our meet in Blanding was more about running together and pacing each other through the beginning of the course,” he said. “To see both teams come away with some hardware was very impressive.”
“In Pagosa, only about half the team ran. It was nice to see the races that our seniors put together in the boys’ race. I think the girls did a good job too considering they are dealing with some injury and illness right now.”
The Blue Jays next race is their home meet, the Chicken Creek Challenge, on Saturday, Oct. 3.
The elementary race will start things off at 8:30 a.m. and will be followed by the middle school at 9:00, junior varsity at 10:00 and varsity race at 11:15.