Armed with a solid one-two punch in returning senior Sloan Mazur and sophomore Elco Garcia, Jr., Bayfield Cross-Country should again be a contending presence - if not as a team, then at least individually - on the boys' side in 2017.
Despite graduation hitting head coach Josh Walton's roster relatively hard - claiming lone Class 3A State Championships qualifier Cody Speece as well as Bryan Gram (like Garcia, an Ignacio High school student-athlete competing for BHS), Jackson Sibley and Gus Roberts - in the spring, the Wolverines can also return senior Nathan Carlson and sophomore Rylan Ross this fall in forming a core group.
Also depleted by commencement, the girls' roster will also need a notable rebuild.
Gone are standouts Bridget Goddard and Amber Johnson, as well as Rachel Cooper (of IHS) and Isis Gonzales, but among those able to return are sophomore Claire Hufnagel and junior Sarah Ruybal.
Bayfield's season gets going today in Colorado Springs at the 2017 Cheyenne Mountain Stampede, with the varsity girls tentatively starting at 11:30 a.m. and the boys at 1:30 p.m. on the Norris-Penrose Event Center/Bear Creek Park route - proudly declared 'THE HIGHEST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP XC COURSE [elevation 6,119 feet] IN THE USA!' on the event's website.
Mazur recorded a team-leading 18:59.2 at last year's Stampede, good for 31st overall, and Garcia followed with a quality debut of 19:18.4 and took 38th. Trailing Goddard across the finish line in the girls' feature, Hufnagel clocked 24:42.7 and placed 53rd while Ruybal was 98th in 33:52.2.
Up next for the Wolverines will be a true Labor Day Weekend lung-buster: the Lake County Invitational in Leadville (town elev. 10,152) on Saturday, Sept. 2, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Having both placed in the top-20 at last season's event, Mazur and Garcia should again be threats to finish amongst the leaders, while Hufnagel could pace the girls given her 34th-place effort in '16.
A couple thousand feet closer to sea level, but still much higher than even the Stampede, the 24th Annual Joe I. Vigil Open in Alamosa (elev. 7,543) then awaits Bayfield on Sept. 9. Information available shows the high-school boys starting at 9:20 a.m., and girls at 10:25 for their respective 5K races at Cattails Golf Course.
The Southwest XC Challenge in Durango is scheduled to follow next on Friday, Sept. 15, and will serve as Bayfield and Durango's home meet for the season.
