Running 10 minutes from their high school on a course with which they are all too familiar, several members of the Montezuma-Cortez High School cross-country teams produced season-best results at the Ancient Trails Invitational on Oct. 6.

Among the leaders for the Panthers cross-country teams were freshmen John Whyte and Ayanna Silas, who both placed sixth overall in their respective races.

Whyte’s time was 19:14, while Silas finished the course in 23:46.

In the boys race, Whyte was followed by Trenton Bagge, who placed seventh overall (19:14), and Ben Castillo-Calvillo, who crossed the line in 10th place (20:03). Will Brown finished 12th (20:20), and Josh Hughes placed 40th (23:56) for M-CHS, which came in second behind Mancos High School in the team standings.

On the girls’ side, Silas was followed by Ridley Dennison, who finished 10th (23:58), and Caisey Duran, who placed 15th (24:48). Cassandra McCully crossed the line in 20th (25:15), and Trinity Meyers placed 25th (25:08) for the M-CHS girls team, which finished second in the team standings behind Durango High School.

Next up for M-CHS will be the team’s Class 3A Regional cross-country meet, in Delta on Oct. 20.