DOLORES – Dolores cross-country has been building a program from the ground up over the past few years, and now they’re seeing the ripening fruits of their labor.
Flashback to 2022 – the DHS boys cross-country team hosted their Boggy Draw Bear Chase, but weren’t able to field a complete scoring team. Meanwhile, on that same morning, the Dolores Middle School boys team won their meet, showing the promise of what was coming down the pipe for head coach Angie Lowe.
A number of those same athletes have stepped onto the high school scene in a big way, and coming off the program’s first-ever team state qualification, the Bears return almost the entire cast from their 13th-place run in November.
Two-time state qualifier Aaron Nielson prepares for his final season for the black-and-red as the lone senior, while strong Classes of 2027 and 2028 will make the Bears into a major force this season. Sophomore Joseph Padilla – the team’s top runner at state last year – comes off a stellar freshman track season, where he’ll be joined by juniors Owen Lowe, Corvin Smith and Orin Samulski, all of whom have state experience.
“They push one another in a positive way, so whatever goals they set, they can achieve,” said Lowe. Her group enjoyed successful pack running last fall, with seemingly a different runner leading the team in the overall standings from one meet to the next.
The head coach lauded her group for their strong summer training, including sending a group to run at the Northern Arizona University cross-country camp.
“Our runners returned from the camp and advocated for what they had learned and felt like we should incorporate into our program,” added Lowe.
The DHS boys team joins returning girls team sophomores Emilynn Hill and Emma Nielson – both qualifiers on last year’s 14th-place girls team. “We’re hoping to run personal bests throughout the season and get as many of our runners as we can back to state,” said Lowe.
The Bears are off and running when they host their annual Boggy Draw Bear Chase on Saturday, Aug. 23. They’ll continue action with meets in Durango (Aug. 30) and Alamosa (Sept. 6), before getting a preview of their regional course in Ignacio on Sept. 13. Their competitions continue in the lead-up to the regional meet on Oct. 25 in Ignacio, with the hopes of another trip to the Norris Penrose Event Center for the 2A state championships on the first day of November.
After a state appearance last fall for the Bluejays girls, longtime Mancos head coach Brady Archer has plenty to be excited about in fall.
The Jays bring back seniors Maddie Swortwood-Green and Tyla Henry from last year’s state-qualifying squad, and Archer hopes that their experience will pay dividends for an otherwise young team.
“They know what it takes to succeed, but with our young team, we’ll have to be patient and trust the process,” said Archer.
The boys team seeks to fill out a complete team for the first time in a couple years, with sophomore Cuinn Archer looking to build off a strong freshman year where he nearly qualified individually for state.
“We want to see the season as a work in progress,” added Archer, “the races are opportunities to improve so that when we get to our regional race, we can hopefully have our best races when it counts.”
Mancos will head to Colorado Springs for the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede to get a look at the state course on Aug. 22, before returning to race in a number of the Four Corners-based meets. Their home meet, after having to step away from Chicken Creek last year due to the land dispute, returns to the trails north of town on Oct. 11. The Bluejays join Dolores in the 2A regional meet in Ignacio on Oct. 25.
Last year’s Montezuma-Cortez cross-country team enjoyed significant improvement throughout the season under head coach Dan Tamminga, and the Panthers hope for another year of climbing the standings this fall.
The Panthers boys team posted a ninth-place finish in last year’s regional meet from a group composed primarily of sophomores and juniors. Class of 2027 runner William Blair looks be one of the leaders to help guide the Panthers on the course, while Tamminga’s girls team will look for some new faces to take the reins after M-CHS graduated virtually their entire team from last year’s 10-place regional run.
After joining the fray in Boggy Draw to begin the season on Aug. 23, the Panthers will face competition at meets in Durango (Aug. 30) and Bayfield (Sept. 13) before they host their home meet at Parque de Vida on Saturday, Sept. 20. M-CHS will take on the 3A regional field on Oct. 23 with ambitions of qualifying runners for the 3A state meet on Nov. 1.
