Fri Oct 23rd, 2020
Joel Priest
Special to the Drum
Categories: Sports, Cross-Country, Sports
Tags: Bobcat boys’ cross-country, Class 2A-Region IV Championships, Dylan LaBarthe, Eppie Quintana, Gabe Tucson, Jeremy Roderick, Phillip Quintana, Tyler Barnes
Reborn program takes 12th at regionals
Proudly representing Ignacio High one last time this fall, the Bobcat boys’ cross-country crew boasted one runner breaking the 20-minute barrier as the program’s 2020 rebirth season ended Friday afternoon, Oct. 9, in Delta.
Competing at the Class 2A-Region IV Championships, IHS’ adjusted score-4 total of 173 points earned the team a respectable 12th place out of 17 squads packing energetic Confluence Park.
With State-qualifying standards different from the upper classifications’ this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic predicament, four teams from each 2A regional were awarded spots in Colorado Springs: San Juan Basin Leaguers Ouray (a winning meet-low 57 points), Rangely (92), Grand Junction Caprock Academy (94), and Parachute Grand Valley (98).
For Ignacio, freshman Phillip Quintana’s first prep season ended with a 36th-place 19:54.05. Senior Dylan Labarthe’s first – and, unfortunately, only – cross-country campaign concluded with a 41st-place 20:12.65, followed by sophomore Eppie Quintana in 46th (20:44.16) and junior Gabe Tucson in 53rd (21:33.53).
Freshman Trajan Garcia – like Labarthe, Tucson, inactive junior Jeremy Roderick and injured junior Tyler Barnes an Ignacio Football participant awaiting that season’s sudden restart – rounded out the Bobcat contingent taking 58th in 22:07.67, but was far from back-of-the-pack status; there were 81 finishers in the race.
Individually, Crested Butte Community School’s Connor Williams dominated end-to-end and clocked a first-place 16:36.08, with OHS’ Vincent Schierenberg (17:35.61) and Oak Creek-based Soroco’s Alex Colby (17:35.65) almost a full minute behind but separated by just a fraction of a second. Paonia’s Alyster Birk was a close fourth in 17:37.49.