The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate harriers continue to battle illness.
Despite that, however, coach Rachael Christiansen notes in the team’s newsletter it had a “decent day overall” at the Boggy Draw Bear Chase in Dolores on Sept. 20.
“The team has been battling a wide variety of illnesses the past couple of weeks, ranging from respiratory to stomach issues and, unfortunately, both were present this weekend. Considering that, I think we had a decent day overall,” she wrote.
The Lady Pirates finished third out of six teams at the meeting.
Sienna Rose was the lead runner for the Lady Pirates, taking fifth overall with a time of 23 minutes, 18.66 seconds, which the coach notes was 28 seconds faster than her time the week before.
Kaiya Lyons followed with a time of 23:35.16.
“Right behind Sienna was Kaiya, finishing in 8th place,” the coach wrote. “She keeps getting closer and closer to Sienna, which is exactly what the team needs.”
Adison Johnson finished 13th with a time of 25:11.91, with Christiansen highlighting Johnson “had a great day.”
Despite battling a stomach bug during the race, the coach notes Madisen Stretton finished 18th overall with a time of 26:48.09.
“She is incredibly tough and didn’t quit despite feeling awful. And, she only added 7 seconds to her time from last weekend,” Christiansen wrote.
Mila Miller logged a “stand out race” to finish 19th with a time of 26:51.51, with the coach noting she took over 2.5 minutes off her race from the previous week.
Gwen Tyler was the team’s final runner and, despite also being “a little sick heading into the race,” according to the coach, finished 41st with a time of 35:21.71.
Christiansen notes the team was without three other runners due to student council responsibilities and illness.
“Missing those 3 girls is tough for the team, however, they pulled out a 3rd place finish with the ‘Score 4’ system at 2A Dolores. If it would have been 3A, with a ‘Score 5.’ the Lady Pirates would have finished 2nd! That is impressive considering everything,” Christiansen wrote.
The Pirate boys were also battling illness on the day.
With Jesse Beck out sick, Connor Thomas was the lead Pirate runner.
He finished in 20:41.23 to take 18th.
Merrick Tudor finished 32nd with a time of 22:02.31, followed by Dylan Dempster’s 33rd-place finish with a time of 22:04.05 and Eli Nehring’s 34th-place finish in 22:05.47.
“Merrick, Dylan, and Eli all ran in a very close pack, finishing within 3 seconds of each other,” Christiansen highlights. “This was the highest place on the team for Dylan all season and Merrick ran a much more consistent race with the help of Eli, who was feeling a little under the weather as well. This pack is great to see and we love that they are improving TOGETHER!”
Peyton Jackson finished 39th with a time of 22:54.24.
Jacen Easling finished 48th with a time of 24:27.44, and Weston Sweet ran a time of 24:33.57 to finish 50th.
“These two, while both also not 100% healthy, had a solid day,” the coach wrote.
Isaac Hanto finished 57th overall with a time of 27:08.05, despite also being sick, according to the coach.
“Before the race started we had made the decision for him to just run and not actually race, giving his body a little break,” she explains.
Asher Kurz finished 60th with a time of 29:49.33, with the coach noting he had a good day.
Despite being down two runners due to illness, Christiansen notes the Pirates finished sixth out of the six teams, but were only 21 points away from Bayfield, who finished fourth.
“So, while it was not the finishing placement we would like to be, we are getting closer to Bayfield,” she wrote.
With no meets scheduled for the Pirate harriers over the next week, the coach indicates that she hopes the team will get better and be ready to return to action at its home meet on Oct. 5.
randi@pagosasun.com
