Panthers, Jays head to meets at Gallup, Bayfield

Panthers, Jays head to meets at Gallup, Bayfield

Sept. 30, 2000

STAFF REPORT

It will be a busy day for the Montezuma-Cortez and the Mancos cross-country teams today, Sept. 30.

The Panthers compete against several nationally-ranked cross-country schools in the nation at the Gallup Invitational at Gallup, N.M. The Bengals are nationally ranked and Zuni as well. Many of the top teams from the Four Corners area will be competing as well as teams from the Navajo, Zuni, and Acoma reservations.

It is scheduled to start with junior varsity runners about 10 a.m.

The Blue Jays will compete at Bayfield beginning at 9 a.m. today.

The Panthers competed on Sept. 22 at Ridgway and then moved on to Silverton on Sept. 23.

Cortez finished in fourth place out of nine teams with a score of 58 points. There were 39 runners. Montrose won the event with 28 team points. Carly Hornbeck of Montrose won the girls varsity race with a time of 24 minutes, 27 seconds.

The Panthers were led by Sara Snyder, 13th, 26:54; Julie Christenson, 18th, 27:43;

Chesleigh Keene, 19th, 28:07; Holly Smith, 20th, 28:14; Jessica Millican, 24th,29:33;

Becca Whitehead, 32th, 31:28.

"We had a great team effort on a tough course," MCHS head coach Dave Dillman commented. "The race was run at the Rigeway State Park with a huge hill after about one mile. It was nice to see four out of our six runners finish in the top half of the field. The other two runners hung in there and finished well, too. Holly Smith has seemed to healing and is running better this week. Chesleigh Keene has worked hard and is improving her performances, also."

Fall and winter weather made an appearance at the annual Silverton Invitational Cross-Country Meet in this high mountain village.

"It was miserable," Mancos High School head cross-country coach Tim Dunham said. "It was windy and cold. It snowed, it sleeted, it hailed, and it rained. It was just not a very good day for running, but the kids hung in there."

The course was 3.1 miles featuring a hill at the beginning of the race before it drops down at the end. The runners ran on dirt and gravel roads. The beginning altitude was more than 9,000 feet above sea level.

This was the first meet of the season in which Mancos had a full girls’ team in which to score.

"It was nice that we had a full team," he added. "They had only figured the first three places for the team standings when we left. But I think we finished about fifth out of 10 teams."

Class 4A Montrose won the girls’ side with 20 points. Monticello, Utah, finished second with 27, and Durango JVs placed third way back with 65.

Individually for the Blue Jays, Amanda Kennedy came in 44th with a time of 26 minutes, 06 seconds; Megan Doty crossed the finish in 48th in 26:39; Dorothy Edgerton placed 58th in 30:37; and Kara Dunham followed behind her in 59th in 32:21.

"Overall for the girls, I thought they ran pretty well considering the weather. All of them took two to three minutes off their times, which is a big chunk," Dunham remarked.

The MHS boys came in third place with 56 points. Gunnison won with 38 and Montrose placed second with 42.

"Third place is very good. We beat many schools which we will face in our Regional (in a few weeks) such as Olathe, Hotchkiss, Delta, and Ouray were some of the other schools at the meet that we beat. Montrose is a 4A school. We still have to get by Gunnison. I was very pleased," he said.

Individually for Mancos, Jordan Davis placed ninth in 18:38; Jesse Rousset 10th in 18:42; Doyle Edgerton 15th in 19:18; and Greg Cummings 22nd in 19:46. One of the better runners for the Blue Jays, Sven McNeil, did not run because he was ill.

"Overall, the boys had a good day. We ran against some very tough teams. It was not too bad," Dunham added.

The Blue Jays will hold their own Mancos Invitational Oct. 7. They will be joined by Monticello, Bayfield, and MCHS. The Jays will travel to Sargent Oct. 14. Regionals is set for Aspen Oct. 21 and State is Oct. 28.

Cortez finished sixth out of 11 teams with 134 points. Montrose won the girls’ team competetion with 20 points. Hornbeck completed a weekend sweep by winning the girls varsity race with a time of 20:46. There were 59 runners.

The Panthers finishers were: Christenson 26th, 23:51; Snyder, 31st, 24:04; Keene, 36th, 24:36; Smith, 41st, 25:14; Millican, 43rd,26:03; and Whitehead, 56th, 28:25.

"I think they were a little tired from the Ridgway meet," Dillman remarked. "Given that, I'm happy with the way they hung in there during a sleet storm and persevered. I ran the course before they did and it was nasty with sharp sleet and a howling wind. Julie Christenson ran her best meet so far. She really motored to the finish line the last half mile. In spite of the weather, the venues this weekend were absolutely phenomenal. Competetion and athletics aside, it is stunning to see some of the places these kids run. I hope they take some mental snapshots during their race so they can remember it the rest of their lives."

Before heading to the Mancos meet on Oct. 7 they will compete this Wednesday, Oct. 4, at Monticello, Utah. They will close the regular season at Tohatchi, N.M., on Oct. 14. Regionals is set for Oct. 20 in Delta.