For the Mancos High School boys and girls cross-country teams, the week preceding Labor Day turned out to be a successful one.
Closing out August at the Aztec Invitational at Lions Wilderness Park in Farmington on Aug. 31, both Mancos teams overcame temperatures in the mid-90s and produced solid results.
Providing an especially exciting performance for the girls team, Grace Manning scored her first high school victory with a time of 24:17. According to Mancos head coach Brady Archer, Manning’s patience early in the race paid dividends down the stretch.
“What a great race for Grace,” Archer said. “She waited until about Mile 2 to take over the lead, and she ended up winning by 16 seconds.”
Following Manning were teammates Maggie Delaney and Hakayla Snow, who finished 13th (30:39) and 16th (31:09), respectively. Kylie Guiles rounded out the Lady Jays placers with a 19th-place finish (33:57).
On the boys team, the Bluejays were led in Farmington by senior Simon Kearns, who finished second overall (18:34). Jake McKie and Caleb Yoder crossed the line in fifth (19:40) and sixth (19:42), respectively, while Zane Wilson finished 13th overall (21:56).
Rounding out the varsity competitors for the boys team was Alex Fleitz, who crossed the line in 16th place (22:27). As a team, the Mancos boys finished second overall behind Aztec High School.
“The Aztec meet was tough because of the heat,” Archer said. “We saw some pretty good New Mexico teams, and it was another good early season test for our runners. Even though the times were slower, I want our team members to focus on becoming better runners and use early-season races as practice to get better.”
One day after returning to Aztec, both Mancos teams drove to Thoreau, New Mexico, where they camped overnight and then competed in the Thoreau Invitational on Sept. 2.
Seemingly inspired by his night under the stars, Kearns dominated the boys’ race and finished first overall with a course-record time of 17:24. Yoder crossed the line in fifth (18:15), McKie finished 10th (18:42), Wilson placed 19th (19:51), and Fleitz came in 35th (21:47).
As a team, the Mancos boys finished third overall.
On the girls team, Mancos was again led by Manning, who finished eighth (22:47). Snow crossed the line in 26th (26:32), and Guiles placed 31st (28:12).
“For our runners to come out and race as well as they did after racing a couple days before and camping the night before, the race was great,” Archer said. “Almost everyone had season best times. This race was another good test for our runners.”
Now roughly halfway through their regular season meet schedule, both Mancos cross-country teams will take a week off before returning to action in Shiprock on Sept. 16.
