ALAMOSA – The bib number held no real significance to him.
But as a late distance-running coach and innovator was celebrated Saturday morning at the extremely well-attended meet bearing his name, Simon Miglinas pinned No. 95 onto his purple-and-gold uniform – likely ready to channel fictitious auto-racing character Lightning McQueen more so than Joe I. Vigil, who passed away in July at age 95.
The good Doctor probably would have approved of that mentality – to which Miglinas and all BHS runners competing in the Adams State University-hosted 32nd Annual Joe I. Vigil Open needed to fully adhere in order to achieve the sort of success sought by entrants traveling from far and wide.
Bayfield junior Abigail Robertson did the best of the Wolverines against runners as far away as Texas. She finished 88th out of 370 in the girls varsity race in 21 minutes and 8.3 seconds.
In all, nearly 800 high school runners took to the fast, flat grass of Cattails Golf Course.
“Honestly it’s really scary because they’re all so fast and … just huge teams,” said Robertson. “But it’s always fun to have competition.”
Bayfield senior Wrenalee Moore posted a time of 22:55.2 and placed 174th overall. Freshman Ashlynn Bravo finished 281st in 25:50.2, and senior Mila Feely took 284th in 25:51.5. Senior Kamala Smith came in 297th (26:12.0) as Bayfield’s scoring quintet totaled an adjusted 705 points and ranked 26th out of 27 title-eligible teams.
“It was such good conditions, a lot of fun,” said Feely. “And a lot of mud; I even got some on my face.”
In the boys race, senior Porter Sutherlin led BHS with his 18:07.9 and placed 111th individually. Sophomore Travis Taylor took 177th in 19:15.2, and senior Parker Perkerewicz also broke 20 minutes by clocking a 212th-place 19:49.4. Junior Cameron Mars (244th, 20:37.4) and sophomore Carter Lamb (250th, 20:45.8) crossed the finish line just six places apart, and Bayfield’s scoring five ended up tallying 815 points and placing 30th out of 35 contending crews.
“I probably went out a little too fast, but wanted to keep good positioning,” Sutherlin said. “I slowed down a little bit in the second and third miles, but still PR’d so it was a good day. I’m on top of the world right now; it’s great to be back running fast times, praise God, after being injured for most of last season. It was just an amazing day to race.”
Up next, Bayfield will host the BHS Invitational on Saturday. Sutherlin has mixed feeling on the home meet. He’s excited for his last home meet, but is also sad about the home meet signaling the end of his high school running career.
“Always have God by your side; He will help you get through any pain you have – I know from experience – especially in this sport,” said Taylor. “But I think I’ll do awesome; it’s our meet and we have ‘home field advantage.’”
