Set on a course that features thick groves of aspen trees and breathtaking views of the La Plata Mountains, the Chicken Creek Challenge ranks as one of the most picturesque prep sporting events in Colorado.
Local runners have excelled at the meet in recent years, and on Sept. 29, several familiar names were again near the top of the standings as runners from Dolores High School, Mancos High School, and Montezuma-Cortez High School placed well.
Among the top individual finishers were Dolores seniors Phillip Hufman and Brennan Hite, who finished in third place (18:47) and fifth place (18:32), respectively. The third member of Dolores’ triumvirate, Josh Petrow, crossed the line in 38th place (23:38).
Mancos High School also enjoyed two Top 20 finishers in the boys race as Edgar Hernandez finished 14th (21:01) and John Lund placed 18th (21:01). James Ayers finished 22nd (21:36), Connor Sehnert placed 23rd (21:40), and Stephen Knezek crossed the line in 25th (21:41).
William Small rounded out Mancos’ finishers with a 51st-place finish. Mancos finished third in the boys team standings behind Pagosa Springs and meet champion Monticello. After the race, Mancos head coach Brady Archer praised his team’s performance.
“(Our runners) ran pretty well today in front of the home crowd,” Archer wrote. “We have some young runners who are really starting to come along and some runners who are also starting to get healthy and run better. I always appreciate how hard these runners compete when they get a chance to run at Chicken Creek.”
Rounding out local runners in the boys standings were Montezuma-Cortez High School teammates Wes Atcitty and Josh Hughes, who finished in 35th place (23:01) and 40th place (23:53), respectively.
On the girls side, Mancos standout Grace Manning came through with another solid performance in a season full of them as the sophomore placed eighth overall (24:01). Manning was joined in the standings by teammate Hakayla Snow, who placed 23rd (27:18) and teammate Aspen Baumgarner, who placed 31st (28:34).
Kyle Guiles placed 40th (29:55), and Kaysi Thomas finished 43rd for Mancos (30:30). Mancos finished fifth as a team in the girls team standings. Pagosa Springs was the top overall girls team in the meet, which featured numerous fans lined up along the course.
“I appreciate how much Mancos supports this meet and the runners,” Archer noted. “We had volunteers helping out all over the place, and we couldn’t do this meet without them.”
Other local participants in the girls race included M-CHS runner Ridley Dennison, who finished 13th (25:04), and teammate Siren Utrecht, who placed 25th (27:20). Emalie Myers finished 27th (27:27), Marina Bradley placed 28th (27:30), and Kalea Hunt crossed the line in 35th (29:14).
M-CHS finished fourth in the team standings. The Panthers, along with the Bluejays and the Bears, will next compete at the Ancient Trails Invitational, which will take place at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on Oct. 5.
