Bayfield Cross-Country head coach Josh Walton reflected back on his team's - and community's - recent hosting of the 2018 Bayfield Invitational just north of BHS off County Road 501, and indicated he was pleased with how the overall experience turned out.
"Especially early in the season," he noted. "We're five weeks from regionals, so kids have the ability to recover and still be ready, as compared to later in the year. So it'll be interesting to see."
"Looking forward to hosting another meet next year! Same place, same time!"
And apparently other teams will be as well, appreciating the challenge offered by the varying route.
"In talking to some of the Grand Junction kids, they said that ours compared very well with Battle Mountain's," said Walton. "They'd run at the Battle Mountain Invitational (on Sept. 1), which is considered one of the hardest courses in the state. Because they've ran both, they can give me good feedback on what ours is as compared to theirs. I was happy with that."
"We had some injuries, but they were more dehydration and that kind of stuff," he continued. "Yes, it's hills and stuff, but kids aren't turning ankles. That's one of the things I always worry about when we go to meets and we're walking the surfaces; I'm like, 'OK guys, you've got to make sure, when you're running here, you're running on the right side and not on the left' because we're trying to prevent sprained ankles and stuff."
Walton also emphasized the community's involvement in staging the high-school and middle-school races. The BMS boys placed fifth; the girls sixth.
"I just want to say thank you to all our sponsors. We had Southwest Ag, The Pine Cone, AJ's Pizza, Horizon Environmental Services, Abundant Health Colorado, and Lake Chiropractic," he said. "And I also want to give a special thanks to Curtis Gillespie; he made all our plaques for team awards, which was huge - they turned out really nice! I was very happy with that."
