Bayfield cross country head coach Josh Walton has more than enough talent returning to mold into another runner worthy of attacking the challenging Colorado Springs route at the CHSAA Class 3A State Cross Country Championships.
And that goes for both the boys and—much to the head coach’s delight—girls’ teams.
“Obviously losing Tristan will hurt a little bit; Tristan was a huge leader,” said Walton, speaking of the graduated Tristan Sager, who earned the trip to Norris-Penrose Event Center with an outside shot at the individual title. “And we had Sean Zimmerman and Alex Ion, both seniors and … they wanted to try it so we were happy to have had them.”
Walton pointed out some members of the senior class that have a lot of experience. Will Kennedy-Jones is in his seventh year of running with the program since starting with the middle school team. Sawyer Flinders will also be entering his seventh year after beginning his running career with the Bayfield Middle School team
Now-junior Porter Sutherlin, who accompanied Sager, Walton and assistant coach Kian Hartley to NPEC to not only soak in the championships’ atmosphere but join Sager on his warm-up run, returns for BHS along with classmate Parker Perkerewicz, plus sophomores Cameron Mars and Ryan Kurtz.
“Porter … we’re excited to see what he can do,” said Walton. “And Parker’s … another one that’s been with us forever—this is his sixth year running cross-country.”
Incoming freshmen Travis Taylor, Carter Lamb and Tyler Foster presently round out the squad, giving Bayfield plenty of legs to stand in 2024. One wouldn’t assume that would be the case on the Wolverines girls team, given that BHS was fortunate to have even three girls competing in any given varsity race last year.
But one would be wrong; numbers are up, squad veterans are returning, and a ’23 prospect is back from injury.
“Abigail Robertson, she got hurt last year in the first week, but she’s back healthy and we’re excited to see what she can do her sophomore year,” Walton said.
On paper, now-junior Wrenalee Moore would figure to be the crew’s No. 1, with senior Sage Flinders and junior Mila Feely making for a strong top three. Junior Kamala Smith is also back and Bayfield will also have some new blood in the form of incoming senior Emily Cordova Rios and rookie Lilja Johnson.
“Wrenalee showed a lot of success last year at the end of cross-country but then also really excelled in track, finishing 28th in the state in the 300 hurdles. Didn’t quite make it into the (State-bound) top 18, but she really made a huge ‘jump’ last year,” said Walton. “Emily … was a 400-meter runner and a sprinter last year, but she wants to try cross-country so we’re excited to have her. And Lilja’s … a new freshman that we think is going to be really good … if we can keep her healthy. She was really good in middle school but we’ll see what she can do in high school.”
First up on BHS’ schedule will be the Ouray/Ridgway-backed Silverton Invitational on Saturday followed by the Lake County Invitational on the 31st in Leadville.
“Ignacio’s hosting a meet this weekend,” noted Walton, beginning his 12th year directing Bayfield cross country. “But we’ve been going to Silverton for several years now—we’re kind of keeping that tradition. So we’re starting off … at 10,000 feet two weeks in a row. It’s nice for us to run at that elevation because every race after that—even when we drop to Alamosa, still (above) 7,000 feet—is … so much easier.”
