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Goddard, Speece lead harriers in Cortez

Girls 3rd, boys 4th at Ancient Trails meet

In addition to a less-surprising caution about runners possibly encountering scorpions, spiders, snakes and cacti-the "usual desert flora and fauna"-4A Montezuma-Cortez head coach Paul Koops, in his meet information posted online, also insisted that any and all attending last Saturday's meet "do not destroy or take any archaeological relics you may find."

The Panther-hosted race apparently isn't called the Ancient Trails 5K for nothing, making a smaller field of competitors all the more ideal for not only the action out and about the Montezuma County Fairgrounds, but also for simply preserving the ground and what may or may not be found.

With numerous high-school cross-country teams beginning to rest their best in preparation for regionals and the State Championships later this month, a smaller field was what the race featured, and two Bayfield entrants were among the leaders.

Helping the BHS girls to a third-place score of 93, senior Bridget Goddard clocked 23 minutes, 13.44 seconds and trailed only M-CHS junior Caisey Duran (22:58.18) at the finish line. Pacing the 4A Durango JV to a winning low of 39, freshmen Kaylan Wait (23:20.68) and Claudia Luthy (23:25.88) came in third and fourth, and Montezuma-Cortez senior Samantha Bagge-whose 23:42.51 helped the hosts total a second-place 75-rounded out the top five.

Continuing a solid first year at the prep level, Bayfield freshman Claire Hufnagel also cracked the top 10 with her tenth-place 24:40.45. Still steady as the squad's No. 3, senior Amber Johnson was close behind with a 13th-place 25:13.65, and senior Rachel Cooper-named Ignacio High School's 2016 Homecoming queen the night before-was next to finish and took 29th in 26:14.21.

Completing BHS' scoring quintet, sophomore Sarah Ruybal placed 54th with her 32:22.68, and senior Jade Sanders' 36:52.32 earned her 58th.

In the boys' feature, senior Cody Speece ran well for a second straight meet and led the fourth-place Wolverines with his fourth-place 18:54.80. Behind him in the top five was 2A Mancos junior Jake McKie (18:57.65), and in front were DHS JV freshman Logan Moore (third, 18:48.97), MHS sophomore Teslin Stecher (second, 18:48.30) and M-CHS senior Josh Ramos (first, 18:26.18).

Durango copped the boys' team title with a low score of 55 points, while the second-place chase was close with Mancos (70), Montezuma-Cortez (76) and BHS (79) at each other's heels.

Elco Garcia, Jr., who'd been included in IHS' Homecoming freshman royalty just the night before, was a strong eighth (19:25.40) for the Wolverines, and junior Sloan Mazur crossed the line next in a 12th-place 19:49.87. Senior Jackson Sibley took 24th in 21:13.18, junior Nathan Carlson placed 36th in 22:40.58, and freshman Rylan Ross was 44th in 23:29.55.

The Wolverines have a bye week tomorrow, then journey to Delta on Oct. 21 for regional competition.

ANCIENT TRAILS BOYS' STANDINGS: 1.Durango JV 55, 2.Mancos 70, 3.Montezuma-Cortez 76, 4.BAYFIELD 79, 5.Pagosa Springs 96, 6.Farmington (N.M.) 110.

ANCIENT TRAILS GIRLS' STANDINGS: 1.Durango JV 39, 2.Montezuma-Cortez 75, 3.BAYFIELD 93, 4.Pagosa Springs 102, 5.Mancos 116, 6.Farmington (N.M.) 137, 7.Montezuma Creek (UT) Whitehorse 138.