Knight fondly recalled running the same course and losing to Corra only five years earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the race between Wiley and I super clearly in eighth grade. He put a big surge in and took a lot of ground from me and he took the sprint in the end,\u201d Knight said. \u201cIt\u2019s super special to be racing with him here again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result capped off a strong day for the Durango High School boys team, which won the meet with 33 points. Alamosa was second with 44, and Pagosa Springs placed fourth with 86. Meet host Bayfield placed fifth with 122 points, seven in front of sixth-place Montezuma-Cortez. Dolores was seventh with 165 points, and Ignacio rounded out the nine-team field with 172 points.<\/p>\n
Land Lambert of DHS took third in 17:03. Bayfield senior Zeb Shields placed fourth in 17:12.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of my favorite courses. When we run regionals here later, it will be colder and lovely,\u201d Shields said. \u201cWe got to see Alamosa, and they\u2019re fast. There\u2019s no way around that. The only place we see them is on their home course, so it was great to see them on our course for a change.<\/p>\n \u201cRegionals and state are coming up. They\u2019re scaring me a bit, to be honest. There\u2019s more pressure now as a senior. But I\u2019m feeling confident after this race.\u201d<\/p>\n Aiden Quayle gave DHS another in the top five. He finished in 17:13. Damian Frausto of DHS finished eighth in 17:55, one spot ahead of Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s top runner John Whyte, who crossed the line in 18:14. Edgar Martinez of Mancos placed 11th in 18:43.<\/p>\n It was a similar tune for the Durango High girls, who won the meet with 20 points. Alamosa finished with 73, two points clear of Pagosa Springs. Ignacio placed fifth with 99 points, and Mancos was sixth with 123.<\/p>\n It was a thrilling finale between Alamosa freshman Sarah DeLaCerda and Durango junior Angela McManus. DeLaCerda would take the win in 20:25, while McManus was second in 20:33. Flint called it McManus\u2019 best run of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did well working as a team the first part of the race, which was our main goal,\u201d McManus said. \u201cIn the heat, you\u2019re more likely to blow up, so we wanted a controlled pace the first mile. Around Mile 1\u00bd, the race broke up and dispersed from there. I was able to finish strong.\u201d<\/p>\n It was all Durango behind McManus, too. Junior Abby Fehr was third in 20:59, senior Maddy Persing placed fourth in 21:27, junior Tea Forrest was fifth in 21:37 and junior Kristina Bodewes was sixth in 21:46. Nina Quayle also added an eighth-place finish, as the sophomore crossed in 22:41.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pleased with the ladies\u2019 performance,\u201d Flint said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have Willow Lott today, and Angela led the way. They ran together early, and Angela made a good move the second mile. We have so much depth and we have more girls that could be in the mix, as well. Good, solid performance and tuneup for the league meet next week in Grand Junction.\u201d<\/p>\n McManus was thrilled to see a strong crowd of supporters on hand. She said it did make her a bit more nervous, but the support throughout the course was uplifting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was helpful having everyone, and it was cool people came to support cross-country. It\u2019s not one of the normal sports people come support, so that was really cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Freshman Maci Barnes led Ignacio, as she finished 10th in 23:23. Senior Charlize Valdez was 16th for the Bobcats in 23:51. That was one second and one place in front of Mancos senior Grace Manning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of becoming expected for them, those two working together and running together and just seeing how hard they can kick at the end,\u201d IHS head coach Daniel Holley said of Barnes and Valdez. \u201cIt\u2019s really awesome to see that older mentality from Charlize, taking Maci under her arm and saying, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m going to teach you how to run and race.\u2019 That\u2019s really awesome to see.\u201d<\/p>\n Ridley Dennison, a senior, was the top finisher for Montezuma-Cortez. She crossed the line in 24:11 for 20th place. Alannah Gomez of Ignacio ran to 22nd in 24:42.<\/p>\n Bayfield\u2019s top girl was Abby Tate. The junior was 25th in 25:29.<\/p>\n Fort Lewis College also had hoped to compete at the meet, but Din\u00e9 College did not travel because of COVID-19. The Skyhawks still ran a time trial event of 8K. Steven Nez was the fastest on the men\u2019s side in 26:45 in front of Bayfield alum Cody Speece, who finished in 27:48. Ignacio High alum Elco Garcia was fourth in 28:22.<\/p>\n The FLC women ran a 5K. Senior Makiah Salzano was first in 19:58. FLC will send seven men and seven women to Gunnison to race against Western Colorado on Saturday.<\/p>\n For Durango, Friday was a good test before the Southwestern League championship race next week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team is in a really good position for boys and girls,\u201d Knight said. \u201cI think we have a really good chance for regionals and state.\u201d<\/p>\n For Bayfield, it also was a chance to preview the course it will host the 3A Region I championship meet on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be right back here, and I\u2019m excited to come back, get it all set up,\u201d said BHS head coach Josh Walton, who drew praise for how well Friday\u2019s meet was held. \u201cWe\u2019ll have 12 teams for the regional meet from Aspen to Delta, so it\u2019ll be fun. We\u2019re just excited.\u201d<\/p>\n