CORTEZ – Benefiting from ideal conditions and a supportive home crowd, the Montezuma-Cortez High School cross-country teams made the most of their annual home meet.
Weaving around the soccer fields and baseball diamonds at Parque de Vida on Saturday morning, the Panthers posted three top-10 finishes, as second-year head coach Dan Tamminga’s boys team took fourth place overall.
In the girls race, Montezuma-Cortez senior Camryn Oliver earned her highest career finish, taking eighth place over the five-kilometer circuit. Her time of 28:30 led a trio of Montezuma-Cortez runners, with freshman Shaylie Keiter taking tenth in 30:03, while junior Taylor Johnson finished 13th in 33:41.
The Montezuma-Cortez boys fielded a complete scoring team, as junior Cruz Plewe continued to pace the orange-and-black. His time of 19:59 landed him seventh individually, while junior William Blair delivered a solid race as the Panthers’ No. 2 runner. Blair placed 13th with a time of 20:48, followed by a quartet of Montezuma-Cortez seniors.
Roberto Sauzameda’s 16th-place finish led the parade from the Class of ’26 with a time of 21:49, followed by Kenai Cotonuts (18th, 22:08), Daniel Thornton (21st, 23:02), and Micah Stembridge (22nd, 24:20).
Bayfield’s Abigail Robinson won the girls race in 22:20, while Ignacio’s Trace Crane captured the boys title in 18:12, narrowly edging Monticello’s Kooper Nielson by one second. Monticello won the boys team title with 39 points, just ahead of Ignacio (52), Bayfield (55) and Montezuma-Cortez, which scored 71.
The Bears boys cross-country team once again flexed their muscles, placing three runners in the top 10 to claim the team crown at the Ramble at the Reservoir in Ridgway.
Sophomore Joseph Padilla earned third place with a time of 20:39, while juniors Owen Lowe and Corvin Smith took sixth (21:20) and ninth (21:44), respectively. Junior Orin Samulski placed 14th (22:24) to round out the scoring pack in the score-four event, aiding the Bears to a team total of 29 points – edging out second-place Caprock Academy by eight points.
Dolores High School sophomore Emilynn Hill took 11th in the girls race (25:08).
Running against some of the best runners from northwest New Mexico, Mancos held their own, led by sophomore Cuinn Archer’s 25th-place finish in the boys competition (19:42), while freshman Carly Kroll took 17th in the girls race (24:14).
Next up for the local teams: Montezuma-Cortez, Mancos and Dolores will all head to Pagosa Springs for the McGinn Memorial Cross-Country Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 27.
