Student Wins State Cross Country Tournament

High school runners from all of Utah converged at Salt Lake City’s Sugarhouse Park Wednesday, October 17, for the end-of-season UHSAA State Championships. The combination of a hilly and rugged course and the unusually cold and wet weather challenged the runners throughout the day but also seemed to bring out their best, as Sanpete County’s participants distinguished themselves with some of the best races of the season.

In Wednesday’s 1A boys’ race, Wasatch Academy’s Elijah Rono, coming off a breakthrough season, threw down a challenge to all contenders with his typical difficult pace early on. By the mile mark, only rival Trac Norris of Panguitch could match his pace, and the duo continued to separate themselves from the field, eventually building a lead of over 40 seconds on third place. As the two leaders gathered themselves for the final half mile, Rono opened up a small but significant lead. His pace never let up as he entered the Highland High School track, with Norris’s ability to out kick him all but removed. Rono earned his first State Championship with a 16:19 with Norris settling for second in 16:22.

Manti High’s distance star Daniel Howell experienced no such challenge among the 2A boys’ participants. As expected, he strode smoothly to the front in the early going, and after the initial series of hills, he was all alone in the lead. Howell’s long strides and smooth rhythm put more distance on his 2A rivals and he crossed the line unchallenged in 16:17 for his second individual championship, a nice addition to the State record he already holds in the 2- mile event on the track.

North Sanpete sent its Region 8 Championship teams to the 3A races with the hopes of both individual and team success. In the 3A girls’ race, the Lady Hawks started aggressively knowing only strong starters would develop the ability to compete among the incredibly tough field which featured three of the top seven in the State. Sylvia Bedford and Nia Ricks settled into the top ten and hung close to rivals from Judge Memorial, Park City and Cedar City, ultimately placing 8th in 19:51 and 7th in 19:48, respectively, to earn All-State honors in leading their team to a top-5 finish. In doing so, they displayed great mettle and heart as they defeated a long list of 3A’s finest cross country runners. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Hawks, and securing the fifth place team spot, were Katie Curtis (3rd), Shyanne Ison (4th), and Brandi Peahl(5th).

Fresh off their convincing Region win, the Hawks from North Sanpete had set a goal to place in the top half of the field of 14 full teams. Senior Shaun Russon took a cue from his Lady Hawk teammates and challenged himself to maintain contact with the top ten. The torrid pace set by Judge senior Luke Puskedra tore the competition apart but Russon maintained focus and held on to the 7th place spot, finishing the three miles in a season-best of 16:51 and earning All-State recognition. His teammates provided the necessary support to reach their goal by placing seventh, a large improvement over last year. Caleb Francks, Jon Bundy, Devin Shelley and Tyler Allen all ran terrific races to secure the solid team placement for the Hawks.