{"id":44610,"date":"2021-09-21T17:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T23:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bayfield-invitational-pushes-runners-limits\/"},"modified":"2021-09-21T23:13:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T23:13:00","slug":"bayfield-invitational-pushes-runners-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bayfield-invitational-pushes-runners-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Bayfield Invitational pushes runners\u2019 limits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bayfield's
Bayfield's Liam Smith passes an ensemble of Marching Wolverines while beginning his second ascent up the Dove Ranch course's feature dubbed 'Walton's Hill' during the BHS Invitational on Saturday. Smith placed 25th in the boys' race. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rarely \u2013 if ever \u2013 out of earshot on Saturday morning, an ensemble of Marching Wolverines held select ground on the 2021 Bayfield Cross-Country Invitational\u2019s Dove Ranch course, laid out behind Pine Valley Church.<\/p>\n

Positioned partway up the route\u2019s opening incline \u2013 Walton\u2019s Hill to BHS harriers \u2013 at a junction with a rocky, gravelly path leading left-turning entrants back up the notorious grade to start their second loop, or leading relieved right-turners downhill to the finish chute, director Derek Smith\u2019s musicians effectively played competitors onto and off of the dusty trail.<\/p>\n

For the director\u2019s son, Liam Smith, however, rhythm and melody weren\u2019t just background sound; the band\u2019s selections also inspired mental cadences the Wolverine cross-country senior would then attempt to match during the race with his feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn band, we have this thing at the end of almost every performance, where we say: Feet together! Toes apart! Stomach in! Chest out! Shoulders up! Back down! Head up! Eyes with pride, eyes with pride, eyes with pride!\u201d he explained, saying each command as though part of a performance sequence. \u201cThen sometimes we\u2019ll say our motto \u2013 \u2018Always happy, never satisfied\u2019 \u2013 and then we\u2019ll go \u2018Band, dismiss! Go Wolverines! HAH!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd every time I pass the band I always think of that; I always try to show myself with \u2018Eyes with pride,\u2019 try to pass everyone in front of me as best I can. And \u2026 as I was going towards the finish, as they were playing the (Bayfield High School) fight song I knew to just keep my pace with the tempo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Runners fortunate to not have hit the proverbial wall on their second (or even first) time up the initial climb were more or less able to double-time theirs downhill to the finish, and crossing the line 1-2 were Centauri juniors Mason Sowards and Ren Canty \u2013 who clocked, respectively, 19 minutes, 23 seconds and 19:25.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Ren wouldn\u2019t let each other get five seconds (away from) the other; that was good,\u201d Sowards said. \u201cIt was pretty intimidating \u2026 there\u2019s a lot of hills, and then doing that second lap again was hard mentally. But finishing felt good \u2013 a huge accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were really good; it was awesome to see them stick together \u2026 a \u2018team\u2019 on the course,\u201d said Bayfield senior Royce Hinojosa, who\u2019d proudly paced all boys up Walton\u2019s Hill \u2013 so dubbed in honor of head coach Josh Walton \u2013 after the starter\u2019s gun. \u201cAnd they were good sports; we told each other \u2018Good job,\u2019 and that\u2019s always nice when you get to feel that brotherhood a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Led by Sowards and Canty, CHS tallied an adjusted score 5 low of 32 points. With senior Andrew Bowles as his team\u2019s first to finish (in a third-place 19:44), Pagosa Springs took second with 48 points, followed by Aztec (58), and BHS (85). Aztec freshmen Noah Higgins (20:32) and Jaden Sims (20:39) rounded out the top five individuals.<\/p>\n

Hinojosa paced the Wolverines with a seventh-place 20:59, sophomore Tristan Sager earned 22nd with a 23:43 and Smith finished 25th in 24:34. Freshmen Sawyer Flinders (25:43, 29th) and Hunter Carroll (30:11, 37th) completed BHS\u2019 scoring quintet.<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield's
Bayfield's Sawyer Flinders relishes the feeling of beginning the long descent towards the BHS Invitational's finish line on Saturday. He placed 29th in the boys' race. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cTo get to run on the course you\u2019ve been practicing on for seven years, and to get to see all the teams come out, all the people you care about come and see you run here one last time \u2026 it\u2019s just a fun experience,\u201d Hinojosa said. \u201cHelped me feel supported and spirited; I think that really carried into the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it did,\u201d agreed Smith. \u201cIt gave me that sense of pride. And I managed to catch up with Tristan, but unfortunately with the steepness of that hill and how long it is, it just kind of tired me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve been calling it for years: Walton\u2019s Hill. And nobody else\u2019s,\u201d joked Sager. \u201cI\u2019d say I was just excited to be running my course. And while the hills were hard I did have a pretty good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, second \u2026 while it\u2019s not first, it\u2019s still pretty good,\u201d he continued, alluding to his solidified No. 2 role on the squad. \u201cI think it\u2019s so cool that Royce is able to run as fast as he does, and I\u2019m happy to be at my pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTristan is doing really, really good. He pushes himself every practice, pushes himself every race and I\u2019m really proud of how far he\u2019s come,\u201d Hinojosa said. \u201cIt\u2019s evident, his hard work up to now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freshmen Will Kennedy-Jones (35:35) and Jonas Gerritts (39:17) placed, respectively, 38th and 41st as the Invitational wrapped up well before noon under sunny skies with temperatures barely in the mid-70s.<\/p>\n

In the preceding girls\u2019 feature, just two Wolverines were able to compete. Freshman Sage Flinders clocked 32 minutes, 54 seconds and placed 24th overall, but sophomore Teagan Schleeter was unable to finish.<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield's
Bayfield's Sage Flinders inhales as much air as possible while passing through a forested section of the BHS Invitational's Dove Ranch course on Saturday. She placed 24th in the girls' race. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Winning the race was PSHS senior Nell Taylor, who recorded a winning 23:17. Centauri senior Jocelyn Jarvies (23:55) was runner-up and Mancos freshman Teagan Archer (24:12) placed third, with CHS sophomore Kaia Skadberg (24:20) and PSHS sophomore Ruth Ann Morehouse (24:28) rounding out the top five.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally in races I start off pretty fast, to kind of get out there and just cruise. But for this one I knew it was a long push uphill, so I just kind of took it easy \u2026 stayed in probably sixth, seventh place for the majority of that uphill,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cAs soon as a downhill came, usually your legs are tired and you want to let them rest for a bit. \u2026 But I pretty much sprinted, which got me into first, put a lot of distance between me and the rest of the runners \u2026 and kind of jump-started my race; I just settled in and held on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centauri earned the team title with an accumulated meet-low 33 points \u2013 only one fewer than Pagosa Springs (34). MHS ranked third with 61, and Montezuma-Cortez took fourth with 94.<\/p>\n

Up next for Bayfield, as well as many of the teams attending the invitational, will be the Pagosa Springs Cross-Country Challenge, which will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Centauri sweeps titles; Hinojosa paces BHS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1871,28,427],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-prep-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44610"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}