Cross country sees first meet

Cross country runners officially opened their season last Friday during the Kelly Walsh Beartrap Invitational at Casper Mountain. Coach Stephanie Metz said the team did really well, though there were some missing due to vacation and injury. “It was really nice,” she said, “to see how they run up the hill and the elevation. And I was really impressed with everybody’s splits.”

Metz further noted this was an important meet as State is in Afton, with high elevations and hills, so this meet was a good look at how the team can handle both, and they definitely “rose up to the occasion.”

Among the highlights, Metz said there are a couple freshman boys — Corbin and Cord Simeral — and it was enjoyable to watch them compete, having never done cross country before.

Also on the boys team, she noted Karsten Hart did phenomenally and came back this season “a whole new runner,” having worked hard over the summer. The hard work shows, as Metz estimated he’s knocked 10 minutes off his times from last year. “He’s coming in as a competitor. He’s found his rhythm.”

On the girls side, Metz said Tahja Hunt is still competing at a high level and just a few seconds off of her times last year.

Metz said there are a couple girls who need to work on their finish and “get that kick back. We’re all looking good our first mile out, second mile looks good, they’re settled in, and then that last half mile kicking it back up.”

The team will be running next at the Douglas Invite on Sept. 7. “Only our seniors have ever run that course. We haven’t been there in three years. It has a hill, so it will be nice to see how they do with that, again to prepare for state.”

Times from the Kelly Walsh Beartrap Invitational include:

Boys: Corbin Simeral, 22:33.87; Cord Simeral, 23:13.02; Karsten Hart, 24:56.99; Isaac Robinson, 24:58.15

MS Boys: Seth Needham, 14:37.27; Jesse Rodriguez, 15:04.00; Kanyon Gerber, 15:59.71; Joseph Crow, 20:21.82; Levi Van Heule, 20:26.35

Girls: Tahja Hunt, 22:23.83; Dayna Sandberg, 25:27.88; Hallie Martinez, 26:30.05; Rebekah Johnson, 28:34.31

MS Girls: Kamryn Farrell, 16:58.39; Mercedes Martinez, 17:28.11; Jayssie Owsley, 17:59.65; Kadance Bowman, 18:41.81; Madison Shaffer, 19:09.89; Lillian Johnson, 21:09.35; Makayla Moore, 24:16.05