ALAMOSA – As if standing out in one’s own high school wasn’t tough enough ….
Try standing out in a crowded cross country field close to double the size of said high school’s total enrollment. that was in just the high school boys race Saturday morning in Alamosa at the Adams State University-hosted 32nd Annual Joe I. Vigil Open.
Looking somewhat incognito with dark sunglasses complementing his black uniform, senior Trace Crane conquered the Cattails Golf Course layout in a swift 17 minutes, 29.3 seconds, but ended up just 68th overall. Junior Thunder Windy Boy was the next Bobcat to finish, and placed 107th with his 18:02.7.
Nearly anonymous among the moving mob with a black hat completing his black uni, senior James Martin came in 125th (18:23.4), freshman Matthew Maestas ended up 253rd (20:48.6) and freshman Kanoa Thompson 383rd (27:10.3) out of 403 officially-timed runners – paced by Taos, New Mexico’s junior Billy Romero (15:18.9).
Overall, IHS accumulated an adjusted score-5 total of 716 points, which ranked 22nd out of a whopping 35 title-eligible teams. Durango (122 points) finished atop the standings, with La Cueva (134) coming in second and Colorado Springs-based The Classical Academy (142) third.
In the Open’s high school girls’ feature, Ignacio freshman Ireland Cates clocked a 34:15.8 and finished 364th out of 370 runners receiving an official time.
