The Mancos cross country team travelled to two meets last week.
Mancos ran at Blanding, Utah, on Sept. 21 to compete in the John Thornton Invitational against five other schools.
The girls were led by Rachel Beverlin, who narrowly missed winning the varsity race with a time of 21 minutes, 53 seconds. Brielle Francom of host San Juan High School won the event in a time of 21:51. Devin Kroeker finished in 12th place with a time of 24:12, Kristin Adams finished her first varsity race in 15th and at a time of 24:37. Sequoia Lovelace competed in the junior varsity girls race and finished 18th in 30:41. The girls team champion was San Juan.
The Mancos boys were paced by Justin Burton, who finished 19th with a time of 19:38. He was followed by Brandon McKie in 21st at 20:03, and Zion Knauss, running in his first varsity race, finished in 31st with a time of 21:18. The boys individual champion was Treyton Helquist from Grand County (Moab, Utah) in a time of 17:20. The boys team champion was Utahs Monticello.
It was great to see Rachel run so well in Blanding. She ran a really smart race and almost pulled off the victory, Mancos coach Brady Archer said. It was also nice to get some of our younger runners get some varsity experience, and see them step up to the challenge,
On Saturday, Mancos travelled east on U.S. 160 to Pagosa Springs to compete in the Pagosa Cross Country Classic. Seven teams raced up and down a mountain through downtown.
The Lady Bluejays, again, were led by Beverlin. She finished in eighth-place and a time of 25:27. Beverlin was followed by Adams in 25:39, which was good for 10th. Kroeker finished in 26:11 and 13th place. The girls individual champion was Emilie Bryant of Pagosa Springs in a time of 22:35. The girls team champion was the host school.
The boys were led by McKies ninth-place finish time of 21:05. He was followed closely by Burton, who took 10th in 21:15. Next for the Bluejays was Zane Willburn in 21st with a time of 22:35. Rounding out the team was Knauss in 27th place and a finish of 23:07. The individual champion was Carlos Brinkman of Pagosa Springs in a time of 19:25. The boys team champion was Pagosa Springs. Mancos finished third and Del Norte was the runner-up.
Saturday was a tough meet. There were not a lot of schools there, but the course itself is demanding. The runners were a bit worn out, but they still competed very well, Archer said. The boys got to run as a scoring team for the first time this season. It was also their chance to compete against the fifth ranked team in the state in 2A with Del Norte there. They did a good job of stepping up to that challenge. The girls did not score as a team, but it was still their chance to see a quality 2A opponent in Sargent. They fared well against them, and it will be exciting to see how they build on this meet.
Mancos will stay home and host its annual Chicken Creek Challenge on Saturday. It is run at the Chicken Creek Cross Country Ski Area north of town. The middle school girls will start things off at 9 a.m., followed by the JV and varsity races.