James Martin’s final cross country season couldn’t have gotten off to a more dramatic start.
Running Saturday morning, in the high school boys’ feature at Dolores’ 2025 Boggy Draw Bear Chase, without fellow senior Trace Crane, and Ignacio already without the services of relocated (family out-of-state move) junior Cayson Burcham, Martin carried the Bobcats’ banner well and clocked a fourth-place time of 20 minutes, 2.75 seconds.
Only nine-hundredths of a tick behind was Blanding (Utah) San Juan’s Jack Kartchner, as the pair created quite the ‘photo finish’ nearly 29 seconds after third-place Elam Etsitty of Montezuma Creek (Utah) Whitehorse finished solo.
SJHS teammates Platte Lyman and Rosendo Martine, meanwhile, finished 1-2 in 18:59.91, and 19:24.27 respectively, helping the Broncos end up totaling a score-4 low of 14 points. Event-hosting Dolores High School came in second with 45 and Bayfield, paced by senior Porter Sutherlin’s eighth-place 20:17.19, finished third with 72.
Travis Taylor ended up being BHS’ No. 2 and placed 24th in 22:16.35, while Ryan Kurtz and Carter Lamb were a supertight 31st (23:09.43) and 32nd (23:09.81). Parker Perkerewicz wasn’t far behind the duo and finished 36th in 23:51.19. Simon Miglinas and Tyler Foster ran 46th (25:12.30) and 47th (25:39.47), and Blake Ethier came in 63rd (32:43.21).
IHS newcomer Matthew Maestas took 41st in 24:08.65. Thunder Windy Boy, fighting through a painful cramp on his left side during the draining last 200 meters, ended up 53rd in 26:44.65, and Kanoa Thompson took 59th in 28:44.56 as the ’Cats ended up with a seventh-place 100 points.
Bayfield’s Abigail Robertson led the Wolverine girls with her 10th-place 24:04.64 and Wrenalee Moore took 12th in 24:12.03. Bridgette Ireland then finished 24th in 30:44.45, with Ashlynn Bravo (26th, 31:09.53) and Kamala Smith (27th, 31:30.84) less than a minute back. Ignacio’s lone entry, newcomer Ireland Cates, finished 33rd in 39:23.33.
Ridgway’s prodigious sophomore twins Natasha (20:20.65) and Ariel (21:14.59) Hessler finished first and third, with Telluride senior Austin Cook (20:46.73) settling for second. With sisters Emery (22:46.03) and Macey (23:21.06) Cornell placing fifth and sixth, RHS finished with a winning score-4 low of 15 points.
THS ended up second with 44, San Juan followed with 50 and BHS finished fourth with 66.
Bayfield will next compete Saturday morning in Leadville at the Lake County Invitational. Ignacio, meanwhile, will journey all the way to Centennial for Class 5A Arapahoe’s Warrior Invitational on Friday. Varsity boys’ action that evening upon the deKoevend Park course is tentatively scheduled for 5:40 p.m., with the varsity girls feature, a run-7, score-5 system applies to both, following at 6.
2025 BOGGY DRAW BEAR CHASE BOYS TEAM STANDINGS: 1. San Juan 14, 2. Dolores 45, 3. Bayfield 72, 4. Whitehorse 76, 5. Telluride 80, 6. Montezuma-Cortez 95, 7. Ignacio 100. (Non-scoring teams – Ridgway.)
GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Ridgway 15, 2. Telluride 44, 3. San Juan 50, 4. Bayfield 66, 5. Whitehorse 67. (Non-scoring teams – Montezuma-Cortez, Dolores, Ignacio.)
