SALT LAKE CITY— Having the fastest individual runner doesn’t mean a whole lot when it comes to the team competition in cross country.
Desert Hills, led by third-place racer Benjamin Powell, took the boys 3A team title Wednesday at the state cross country meet at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City’s Highland area. Powell ran the three-mile course in 16:23.2, 20.3 seconds behind individual gold medalist Garrett Marsing from Carbon. The Thunder also placed high with Joshua Thatcher (16:26.5, eighth place), Joshua McPhie (16:29.8, ninth place), Kale Sharp (16:34.8, 11th) John McPhie (16:48.5, 18th) and Dallin Reber (16:53.8, 19th). The 49 points placed Desert Hills 24 points ahead of second-place Park City, which had 73.
Pine View, which took third with 79 points, had the top individual finisher from southern Utah in senior Byron Warby. He finished with a time of 16:08.7, just 5.8 seconds behind Marsing. Fellow senior Taylor Abel took 14th for the Panthers with a time of 16:41.2. PV’s Colton Bowler was 16th. Nephi Eschler was the top finisher for Hurricane with a time of 16:25.4, good enough for fifth place. The Tigers were seventh in the team scoring.
Meanwhile, the Cedar girls had to settle for second place despite Aimee Bryson’s individual gold medal. That’s because Park City had runners place 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 18th and 20th. Maddie Criscione was the leader among that group and finished with a time of 18:02.7. Bryson helped the Lady Reds take second with a winning time of 17:58.9. PC’s team total of 31 points was well ahead of Cedar’s 76. Canyon View was third with 148 points.
DH’s Courtney Allred was eighth with a time of 19:23.5 as the Lady Thunder finished fifth.
The top overall racer at the state meet was Connor McMillan of 5A American Fork, who ran the course in 15:04.1. The top girls finisher was Sarah Feeney of 4A Ogden, who completed the course in 17:25.0. Bryson was third overall.
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