The Durango High School boys and girls cross-country squads both won team titles on Friday at the Tohatchi invitational in New Mexico.
“It was a good meet for us,” said DHS head coach Ron Keller. “There were some individual runners who were pretty good, and it was a very tough course. It was rocky with long stretches of sand and it ended with a long, steep hill. The times reflected that it was tough.”
The Demon girls grabbed the top-three spots to best the 14-team field with 24 points. Kirtland Central was the runner-up with 94, followed by Navajo Prep (96) and Wingate (108) in fourth.
Sophia Voss won the individual title for DHS in 20 minutes, 22 seconds.
“She trained really well this summer and is in great shape,” Keller said. “We hope she can keep holding on.”
Dewa Ilg finished second in 21:24 while Lacy Ruggiero crossed third for DHS in 21:46.
“We have a 1-2-3 punch as good as 95% of the teams in the state,” Keller said. “We just have to make sure our depth keeps getting better.”
Mira Quayle placed seventh in 23:07, transfer Ayla Williams finished 11th in 24:14 to round out Durango’s team score while Aileen McManus placed 12th in 24:21.
For the DHS boys, Charlie Dillman finished second to help lead DHS to a second team title on the day. Dillman finished about 14 seconds after the winner from Kirtland Central in 17:34. The rest of Durango’s scorers also finished in the top-10 while the team’s sixth and seventh runners weren’t far behind.
AJ Bonanno finished fourth (17:56), Luke Swenk crossed fifth (18:00), Miles Snow placed seventh (18:16), Brody Dorko finished 10th (18:51) while Slader Schweitz and Jack Purcell placed 12th and 13th.
“I’ve always liked running on the reservation,” Keller said. “We go out there and don’t know anything about anyone. I like the unknown going to the line; the unknown makes you better.”
Rocko Enea and Ellie Bruckbauer also finished second for DHS in the junior varsity races.
In CO.milesplit.com’s latest Class 4A rankings, the DHS girls are ranked second in the state, behind Niwot, while the DHS boys are No. 7.
This weekend, DHS will compete with many of Colorado’s top teams on a fast track at the Liberty Bell Invitational.
The DHS girls will run in the sweepstakes race with the top teams while DHS boys will be missing a couple runners and race in division two.
“Overall I’m pleased,” Keller said. “The kids are performing very well and we have one of the best schedules I’ve ever had as far as competitiveness.”
