After winning the Class 2A Region 4 Championship last week, the Mancos Blue Jays finished fifth at the Class 2A Cross-Country State Championships on Saturday in Colorado Springs.
The Jays were led by the trio of Teslin Stecher (18:11.23), Jake McKie (18:13.08) and Simon Kearns (18:15.25), who finished 21st, 25th and 27th, respectively.
Other runners were Ryoya Shima (19:16.83), who finished 57th, and then Caleb Yoder (19:46.54) was 69th and Zane Wilson (19:48.29) was right behind in 70th.
“I thought Teslin Stecher and Jake McKie did a great job of helping Simon Kearns with the team score,” Mancos head coach Brady Archer said in an email. “Simon got a bit dehydrated on the course and fell back from where he is normally at in races. We started off the season ranked sixth, so to finish in fifth showed how hard the team worked all season.”
Also running in the Class 2A boys race was Dolores sophomore Phillip Hufman. Making the Bears’ first appearance at the state championships, Hufman (19:48.59) finished in 71st place.
“It was fun,” said Dolores head coach Nick Kohler. “It was a great learning experience for him and now he knows what he has to do to get better.”
The Mancos Lady Blue Jays finished 13th as a team in the Class 2A girls championship.
Emma Most (23:12.03), Kaylee Rose (23:51.03) and Hannah Skinner (25:54.98) were the Jays’ three scoring runners, finishing 41st, 54th and 79th, respectively. And then Jessalyn Bay-Voit (27:09.48) was 90th, Hakayla Snow (28:15.28) finished 96th and Olivia Coppinger (28:55.43) was 99th.
“Emma and Kaylee did a nice job of leading the team,” Archer said. “By the time the girls ran, it was fairly hot. We had some runners who were affected by the heat, but they all finished and did a nice job of ending the season on a positive note. I appreciate all that our senior girls did this year to make it back to the state meet as a team.”
Competing at the Class 3A level, Montezuma-Cortez High School had representatives in both the boys and girls races.
Senior Josh Ramos (17:49.40) placed 41st out of 157 boys, and junior Caisey Duran (21:44.30) finished 62nd out of 155 girls.
“Their performances were great endings to an excellent season,” said M-CHS head coach Paul Koops. “Both Josh and Caisey showed up to compete and proved they belong with the elite runners in the state. Their times on the tough state course hold up well when compared to times in the other classifications. It was an honor for them to be part of the state meet and it’s been a privilege to coach them this year. Josh and Caisey deserve nothing but praise and credit for their hard work and big-hearted competitive spirit in all their races this fall.”
