The DHS boys finished third in their team race, led by a pair of top-five finishes.
In the girls race, sophomores Dewa Ilg and Sofia Voss kept pace with Fruita Monument’s Ella Unrein, finishing just behind her.
“She’s one of the better runners in the state, and we had two girls go with her early and stay with her,” said DHS head coach Ron Keller. “The three of them battled it out.”
Unrein finished first on the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 11 seconds, followed by Ilg (18:14) and Voss (18:19) in third.
Keller said it rained Friday night so some muddy sections were removed from the course, which is why it was a 3-mile race instead of the normal 3.1.
Wildcats grabbed the fourth and fifth places in the girls competition, but DHS snagged the rest of the top 10.
Senior Nina Quayle finished sixth in 19:27, sophomore Brynn Aguilar was seventh in 19:33, senior Willow Lott rounded out DHS’ team score with a eighth-place finish in 19:42, senior Avery Cerwin placed ninth in 20:27 and Ashley Forrest finished 10th in 20:36.
The team’s gap time, from its first to fifth runner, was 1:28, which Keller said the team will have to shorten with some more conditioning.
Lott, however, is recovering from an injury and only had a few practices before the meet so her time could easily drop as she gets more miles under her.
“She’s got some talent, and that’s what she ran on,” Keller said.
The DHS girls scored 26 points to place first, followed by Fruita (33), Palisade (93) and Grand Junction (98) while Olathe, Glenwood Springs and Eagle Valley also had runners compete but didn’t post team scores.
“Overall, I was happy with it,” Keller said.
Freshman Mira Quayle also had a good weekend, winning the junior varsity 3,200-meter race for Durango in 13:05. “She had an impressive run and will probably move up to varsity,” the coach said.
Durango runners Nathaniel Ellis, left, and Luke Swenk, right, lead a group of runners on Saturday at the Grand Junction Central Warriors Invitational. (Courtesy Mike Ellis)
In the boys race, sophomore Luke Swenk crossed fourth in 15:51 to lead Durango while junior Nathaniel Ellis finished fifth in 16:02. Junior Charlie Dillman crossed 13th in 16:49, followed by freshman Miles Snow (21st, 17:56) senior Allan Hardee (22nd, 17:56), junior Brodie Dorko (27th, 18:14) and sophomore Evan Robinson (48th, 20:39).
“The top three (boys) did well,” Keller said, “but we had a 2:05 split from first to fifth, and that’s got to change.”
The coach, however, said Snow “has great potential” while Hardee, who raced the 400-meters during track season, is running cross-country for the first time.
“Our training and conditioning will start kicking in in a couple of weeks, and we’ll start seeing better results,” Keller said.
Jake Drever of Eagle Valley won the race in boys varsity race in 15:24 while Central, led by runner-up Jackson Edwards (15:42), won the team title with 38 points. Eagle Valley (45) finished second as a team, followed by Durango (65), Fruita (95), Grand Junction (151), Olathe (178), Palisade (183) and Glenwood Spring... Click here to read full article
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