As part of the Marching Wolverines' lineup last Friday night, BHS senior Koya Maniss was surely a spent soul after her return athletic 'debut' earlier in the day for BHS cross country up at the Delta Invitational.
Back in the Pine River Valley after spending her junior year in Anchorage, Alaska, Maniss provided needed depth for coach Joshua Walton at the early-season showcase.
"It was nice," she said, noting a plan to also use running as extra preparation for the spring 2015 soccer season. "I wasn't nervous.until we had to stand at the starting line!"
And although the Lady Wolverines didn't qualify for team scoring, they still placed four individually, with Maniss 104th in 27:05.37, sophomore Amber Johnson 71st (23:34.8), junior Lexa Fleming 66th (23:19.76) Sophomore Rachel Cooper - an Ignacio High student - ran a team-best 40th in 22:09.5.
Fastest around the Confluence Park circuit was Palisade junior Greta Van Calcar, victorious in 18:41.26.
Contributing well to Bayfield's cause in his first prep race was Sloan Mazur; the freshman helped BHS to a 13th-place team finish with his 75th-place 19:09.81. He had the third-quickest time on the team, behind sophomore Alex Knight (50th, 18:24.27) and anchoring senior Trevor Gabbard (30th, 17:50).
IHS sophomores Bryan Gram and Justis Herrera crossed the finish line consecutively in 118th and 119th, in 21:06.11 and 21:09.16 respectively, to give the Wolverines a raw point total of 392-later adjusted down to 328 after non-scoring runners were excluded. Sophomore Joey Sandrey also saw action for Bayfield, and started his 2014 with a 21:58.44 and 131st place. In all, 147 boys and 114 girls were entered.
"For our first meet, I was happy with how the kids performed," said Walton. "I think we will see lots of improvement over the course of the season, and we hope to have a very successful year."
Topping the boys' table was 4A Montrose soph Ian Meek in 15:47.89.
Team-wise in the boys' comepeition, Battle Mountain took first with 91 points. Battle Mountains' Lady Huskies captured the girls' title with 60.
BHS next attacks tomorrow's Joe I. Vigil/PUMA Invite at Adams State University in Alamosa,
"I'm excited," said Maniss. "I want to beat my last time-that's my goal!"
The Wolverines then help host the Southwest Colorado Cross Country Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 13 in Saul's Creek.
