The JV and Varsity squads raced in Cheyenne this weekend and we had a really good showing, taking three silvers and a gold in the team races. This was one of the best all-round meets we’ve had this season in terms of effort, being competitive and chasing after other teams.
The Girls Varsity took Wyoming’s best 4A team -Cheyenne Central- to the line, coming in 2nd place (45-56). Brinna Sheldon and Kadance Holso took out the pace quickly to pull along the entire squad. Adison Armstrong came back from missing the last meet due to sickness and placed 7th overall. Right behind her in 9th, in her best race of the season, was Sheldon. Whitli Adams (11th), Holso (13th) and Vi Sietsema (16th) rounded out the scorers. The girls had under a 60 second 1-5 spread (55s) which will be key to reaching the state meet podium again this year. The girls have made the award stand every year since 2012 and we want to keep that streak alive.
In the JV race, Maddie Carcamo took the lead from the start and never looked back, winning the race over teammate Ashlynn Wellman (2nd). Jocee Krebs had her best race of her career, finishing in the medals (9th) and Bella Speidel (19th) and Abigail Eisenbraun (20th) closed out the scoring with Top 20 finishes.
The JV boys nearly perfect-scored the meet, posting 18 points with just a 31 second 1-5 spread to cap a dominating performance. Like Carcamo, Josh Uhre took the lead from the gun and led the race with authority, winning his first-ever cross country race. Jack Carpenter had a great battle to finish 2nd and was followed by a trio of Raiders: John Achter (4th), Atticus Robinson (5th) and Dominic Wurdeman (6th). Josh Piper ran a great race to place 9th and pick up a medal.
In the last race of the day, the boys found themselves in a battle with Casper Kelly Walsh, a Wyoming powerhouse program. Kelly Walsh took the victory 41-55, but it wasn’t without a fight. We placed 5 boys in the medals, led by Miles Brekhus and Tate Van Beek in 7th & 8th followed by Aaron Letner (11th) and Isaiah Geffre (13th) who ran outstanding races and finished just a few seconds apart. Impressively, we displayed just a 44s pack time without Torin Jackson, a top five runner.
At 6,000 feet, Cheyenne is the highest elevation race we’ve ever competed in. Although all we care about is place in Cross Country, it’s also good to have an awareness of what times at altitude mean.
The following are our times from Cheyenne adjusted to sea level. This is a good way to compare where we are now compared to where we were at our last low-elevation race in Sioux Falls at the Nike Preview meet a month ago.
We're a heck of a lot better, which is exciting.
Altitude Adjusted Times
Miles 16:01
Tate 16:04
Aaron 16:26
Isaiah 16:27
Evan 16:43
Jeriah 16:59
Josh U 17:02
Jack 17:12
John 17:31
Atticus 17:32
Dominic 17:32
Josh P 17:42
Landin 18:10
Adison 18:54
Brinna 19:03
Whitli 19:16
Kadance 19:33
Vi 19:47
Maddie 20:00
Ashlynn 20:30
Emerson 21:24
Adelaide 21:32
Jocee 21:51
Bella 22:38
Abigail 22:41
Olivia 22:57
State Meet Squad
We use average place throughout the season to find our Top 7 athletes that will run at the state meet. The athletes racing at state will go to the Best of the West Meet, but won’t race. We bring an alternate to the state meet with the Best of the West meet being the "run-off" for that position. We'll take the first boy/girl from that race as the alternate.
Practice Schedule
Password: pts
Best of the West
All girls will race at 1:00 and all boys will race at 1:30.
At 11:30, we will recognize the Seniors (likely in the building near the finish-line).
Seniors, please complete this form this weekend. I will send it over to Cindy on Monday.
Team Pictures
We will have team pictures on Friday the 18th with the location TBA, but they are thinking somewhere near Canyon Lake Park. I will have packets at practice on Tuesday.
Team Awards
We will have our annual awards at the Raider Mile on Friday, November 1st @ Sioux Park. Awards will be presented after the Raider Mile, which serves as our final key workout before the Nike Heartland Meet and a kick-off into the track season.
Nike Heartland Region Meet
We’ll run a varsity team and as many JV squads as we can at the Nike Heartland regionals November 10th in Sioux Falls. ANYONE CAN/SHOULD ATTEND.
We will pay for the entry fee and uniforms, but transportation and lodging will be OYO.
This meet is a key part of our season and determining where we stack up regionally with the other seven “heartland” states. The course is fast and the meet is a ton of fun. This is also an important race for those thinking about competing in college, as college coaches aren’t necessarily concerned about times at random courses, rather how fast you run and how you place at common regional meets like Nike Heartland.
I just can’t recommend this meet enough.
If you are even considering attending, please visit this link and fill out the form.
Uniforms
I will have ziplock bags with everyone’s name on them. After your last meet, put your uniform in the bag and turn it into the uniform box.
The next couple of weeks will be busy. I appreciate all of you and your roles in making this all work.