Placing four runners in the top 10 of the Class 3A boys' feature, there was no doubt Alamosa was going to start the 2016 season off grabbing the title at last Friday's Cheyenne Mountain Stampede.
Everyone else gathered in Colorado Springs would be competing for second.
Bayfield's boys would finish 12th overall and, led by junior Sloan Mazur's 31st-place effort of 18 minutes, 59.2 seconds, accumulated 311 points.
Freshman Elco Garcia, Jr., made a strong prep debut as the Wolverines' #2, finishing seven spots back in 19:18.4.
Next across the finish line was senior Cody Speece, 53rd in 20:02.4. Classmate Jackson Sibley crossed 89th in 21:25.9, junior Nathan Smith took 109th in 22:30.5, and senior Bryan Gram took 112th in 22:48.5.
"Sloan.I was very happy with," head coach Josh Walton said. "Sibley ran.about 40 seconds off his p.r. last year, so we were very happy with that. And the boys ended up 12th out of 18 (full) teams, which is pretty good."
The girls' feature at Norris-Penrose Event Center was more tightly contested; in-town schools St. Mary's and Colorado Springs Christian joined AHS in having two individuals earn top-10 status, but in the end it was Elizabeth-down this year from Class 4A-leaving with the championship.
Senior Bridget Goddard led the Wolverine girls to a 10th-place total of 244. Goddard took 34th-place with a time of 23:21.7. Just a little behind Goddard, freshman Claire Hufnagel found herself in a sizable group near the line and ended up 53rd in 24:42.7. Senior fixture Amber Johnson followed more closely behind at 56th (24:56.2), senior Rachel Cooper was 72nd (25:51.7), senior Isis Gonzales 81st (26:44.1) and sophomore Sarah Ruybal 98th (33:52.2).
Estes Park senior Lily Tomasula-Martin was the winner in 18:49.8.
"Bridget.was 18 seconds off of what she ran last year," Walton said. "She ran 23:03 on the same course, so she's almost right where she was at the end of the season last year. We're very happy with that."
"Overall it was just a good day." on SAturday, Bayfield attacks the extra-high-altitude Lake County Invitational in Leadville, with action starting at 9 a.m.
"We want the kids to run really well, but we also realize they're going to be running at 10,000 feet!" Walton said. "It's going to be more of a.run to prepare them for future races."
STAMPEDE BOYS' STANDINGS: 1.Alamosa 34, 2.Arvada Faith Christian 100, 3.Lamar 117, 4.Craig Moffat County 139, 5.Estes Park 157, 6.Elizabeth 158, 7.Fort Collins Liberty Common 169, 8.Pagosa Springs 225, 9.Greeley University 248, 10.Berthoud 259, 11.Manitou Springs 262, 12.BAYFIELD 311, 13.Colorado Springs The Classical Academy 328, 14.Conifer 330, 15.St. Mary's 370, 16.Broomfield Prospect Ridge Academy 397, 17.Colorado Springs Christian 406, 18.La Junta 501. (Incomplete teams/finishers: Brush/4; Parker Lutheran/4.)
STAMPEDE GIRLS' STANDINGS: 1.Elizabeth 58, 2.Alamosa 72, 3.Manitou Springs 114, 4.Colorado Springs Christian 119, 5.Conifer 134, 6.Colorado Springs The Classical Academy 141, 7.Estes Park 169, 8.Pagosa Springs 187, 9.Berthoud 219, 10.BAYFIELD 244, 11.Lamar 249, 12.Brush 265, 13.Broomfield Prospect Ridge Academy 310. (Incomplete teams/finishers: Arvada Faith Christian/3; La Junta/2; Fort Collins Liberty Common/3; Parker Lutheran/2; St. Mary's/3; Craig Moffat County/2.)
