DOLORES – Denying the Blanding, Utah, San Juan boys a perfect performance on one of Southwest Colorado’s toughest cross-country courses, Bayfield junior Tristan Sager managed to outkick two Broncos in earning a season-opening top-five individual result on Saturday.
Clocking 20 minutes, 20.43 seconds at Dolores’ fourth annual Boggy Draw Bear Chase, Sager ended up a solid fourth place after beating SJHS sophomore Logan Keith by 1.28 seconds and junior Ryan McCullough by 3.29 – helping BHS register an adjusted score-4 total of 32 points.
SJHS junior Edward Lyman, who placed 10th at last season’s UHSAA Class 2A State Championships, separated from the pack early and won the boys’ varsity chase in 19 minutes, 16.66 seconds. Exactly 37 seconds later, sophomore teammate Abram Lyman finished second and junior Toby Ward (20:11.35) took third as the Broncos tallied a winning low of 11 points.
Paced by seventh-place Canyon Ishikawa (20:32.16), Ouray’s quartet racked up a third-place 35 points.
Freshman Porter Sutherlin was the second Bayfield runner to come in, finishing 13th in 21:49.21. Completing BHS’ scoring four, sophomores Hunter Carroll (25:18.15) and Will Kennedy-Jones (25:35.51) took 20th and 21st, respectively, while freshman Daemon Christner ended up finishing 24th in 26:02.78.
Rounding out Bayfield’s team effort were freshmen Parker Perkerewicz (28:03.36) in 28th and Tristan Bennett (29:52.27) in 29th.
Freshman Kamala Smith was the only Lady Wolverine at the BDBC, and her 34:45.45 landed her 25th in the girls’ varsity race. Mancos sophomore Teagan Archer won the race in 23:11.46, with Dolores sophomores Elia Lowe (24:23.44) and Maya Lowe (25:01.40) her closest pursuers.
Dolores head coach Angela Lowe’s meet-hosting Lady Bears tallied an adjusted score-4 low of 16 points, with Mancos (34) placing second. Sophomore Hailey Sams’ eighth-place 27:07.42 helped Pagosa Springs (44) earn third while Telluride (46), led by fourth-place finisher Lana Kenworthy (25:01.76), ended up a close fourth. San Juan (70) rounded out the team standings in fifth.
Up next, Dolores will travel north for Basalt’s Longhorn Invitational on Saturday at Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel.
Next on Mancos’ schedule is the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede Sept. 2, at the Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
Bayfield is slated to next run Sept. 3 at the Lake County Invitational in Leadville.
