MANCOS – For as long as Brady Archer has been coaching Mancos distance runners, he’s found a way to get the best from his runners, no matter how big or small the Bluejay squad may be in any given year.
The 2026 edition of Mancos cross country falls on the smaller side, but that doesn’t diminish the enthusiasm or expectation of a program that always finds runners near the front of the pack.
“Our summer of training was the best that it’s been for a number of years,” Archer said. “They put in a bunch of miles on their own, went to running camps – I’m excited to see how this work helps them this season.”
Archer returns sophomore Carly Kroll, a state qualifier in both XC and track from her first year at the high school level. She leads a pack of blue-and-white that will be a full scoring team again on the girls side after a 2025 season in which the Jays didn’t field the requisite four finishers to yield a team score.
Kroll took 52nd in her first state appearance, and Archer is excited to see her lead a new cluster of underclassmen on the course this fall.
“She (Kroll) has such a great mentality about racing, and now she gets to lead a young team that will learn how to run together,” Archer said.
On the boys side, junior Cuinn Archer and sophomore Townes Morris narrowly missed out on qualifying for state at the regional meet last fall, but the duo have designs for changing that this year.
“We’re looking to put together more complete races each week,” Brady Archer said, “they’ve put in the summer work, and now can focus on race fitness and learning from each race.”
The Bluejays get the added benefit of hosting the regionals for the first time since 2018 – and more importantly, getting to do it on their beloved Chicken Creek trail system. The Jays ran their “host” regional site at Delta eight years ago, so having a true home-course advantage could yield a strong showing.
With ambitions to get more athletes back to the 2A state championships, Mancos opens their season at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede on Aug. 21 – the host site yet again for the state meet.
MHS follows that 5K with a run at Aztec (Aug. 29), Alamosa (Sept. 12), Shiprock (Sept. 19), then back-to-back home meets on Oct. 10 with the Chicken Creek Challenge, then two weeks later for the 2A Region 4 meet – where the top four teams and top 15 individuals qualify for the state championships on Oct. 31 in Colorado Springs.
