Three take on first XC challenge

Tuesday - September 22, 2026 by Joel Priest | Special to the Drum

Ignacio’s Leandra Litz appears relieved to be starting the second of two loops around a high section of Bayfield’s Pine Valley Church/Dove Ranch course during the 2026 BHS Cross-Country Invitational Saturday morning, Aug. 22. Litz was one of three total runners repping IHS at the season-opening event.
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum

IHS now prepping for busy September

There may not be many.

But there ARE some. And despite having just three individuals (at the time) in uniform, Ignacio Cross-Country got the 2026 season underway competing at the Bayfield Invitational on Saturday, August 22, before taking a weekend off and allowing the runners to continue conditioning and re-acclimating themselves to the endurance sport.

Negotiating the always-challenging Pine Valley Church/Dove Ranch course, Lady ’Cats Ireland Cates, a sophomore, and senior Leandra Litz were in the 8:30 a.m. mix as non-scoring harriers. The former clocked a time of 34 minutes, 16.63 seconds and placed 20th, and the latter took 23rd in 39:39.08.

BHS senior Abigail Robertson, meanwhile, finished in a winning 23:04.25 while second-place Lily DeClark, a Pagosa Springs sophomore, posted a 23:33.30 and Monticello (Utah) junior Allie Carling a third-place 24:08.77. In the race’s score-5 team standings, from which IHS’ duo was factored out, PSHS ended up accumulating a first-place, 34-point low while Bayfield totaled 40 points and MHS 50.

Paced by prodigious sophomore Rylan Ash’s winning 18:05.67, Pagosa Springs’ five scoring runners all placed top-11 as the Pirates achieved a 30-point low. Led by junior Eli Carling’s runner-up 18:52.92, Monticello ended up with 46 points and Bayfield 50. Senior Matrim Jones was Ignacio’s lone representative in the boys’ feature, and placed 29th in 36:33.17.

Looking ahead, IHS will return to action Saturday, September 5, in Gallup, N.M., at Miyamura’s Patriot Invitational. Following the middle-school action slated to start at 8:30 a.m., high-schoolers will head out onto the Red Rock State Park course at 9:30 (varsity girls) and 10 (varsity boys). A combined JV girls/boys event at 10:45 a.m. will close out competition, with the awards ceremony to then follow at 11:45.

Ignacio will then travel to Alamosa, Colo., on the 12th for the Joe I. Vigil Open, and then return to the San Luis Valley on Friday, September 18, for Antonito’s 10th Annual Gerald ‘Tommy’ Archuleta Memorial Invitational.

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