It was a busy week for the Lowry High School cross country team, who split up its runners between two races in two different states.
The younger group of Buckaroos were in Fernley on Thursday, Sept. 25, for the Roadhill Invitational. Neither the Lowry boys or girls had enough runners for a team score but posted a number of strong individual finishes.
Freshman Emily Jock paced the Lady Bucks, finishing fifth in the 5,000-meter race in a time of 23 minutes, 41 seconds. Churchill County's Chloe Overlie won at 22:36 and Fernley's Grace DeLeon was second at 22:36. Eliza McCullough of Bishop Manogue (23:03) was third and Mallori Campbell of Fernley (23:47) placed fourth.
"Emily ran a great race and had a nice finish for a varsity race," said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. "The conditions were terrible with 30 MPH winds. I thought they might cancel the race. She has ran well all season ans has been a pleasant surprise."
Camryn Maher (31:26) and Amanda Brandon (31:26) also ran for the Lowry girls and were 36th and 37th, respectively.
Fernley won the team title with 28 points, Bishop Manogue was second with 51 and Churchill County (76) was third.
Lowry had three boys compete, with Hunter Albisu leading the way in 66th with a time of 25:07. Liam Gallups was 72nd at 28:05 and Braden Thomas (34:03) finished 74th.
Churchill County won a close team battle with 64 points and Fernley was second at 74. Hug (74) placed third and Silver Stage (78) and Dayton (83) rounded out the top five.
Lowry took a separate group of runners to the Bob Firman Invitational in Boise, Idaho on Saturday. The meet is divided into a number of divisions and is one of the top cross country meets in the West.
"We always look forward to racing in the Bob Firman," Norcutt said. "It's a good team builder for us and it's the beginning of our push to the end of the season. We went in not worrying about places, but getting quicker. Every single runner had a personal best and that is all I can ask for."
In the boys Division I varsity race, which featured nearly 300 runners, Hayden Jeppsen led the Buckaroos with a time of 18:49.6 on the 5K course. Devin Morris stopped the clock at 19:03.4, Ethan Andrews had a time of 19:38.8 and Matthew Jock finished at 20:21.6.
Davis won the team championship with 100 points and Stansbury was a close second at 113. Woods Cross was third at 121 and Mountain Creek (210) and Hillcrest (224) rounded out the top five. There were 39 teams that recorded scores at the Division I level.
Four Buckaroo boys took part in the junior varsity race and Kobe Fitzpatrick was 42nd in a time of 18:41.7. Devin Dowd was just over the 20-minute mark at 20:03.1, Omar Aranjo finished at 21:00.8 and Christopher Kearns had a time of 21:14.3.
Jonathan Madrid (19:29.3) and Chance McAllister (20:23.9) ran in the junior varsity, section two race.
"It was nice to have two runners under 19 minutes," said the coach. "These were huge races. "Jonathan got knocked down in his race, but jumped right back up. If that didn't happen, he would have been quicker."
Lowry had three girls run in the Division I varsity race, with Haley Weber leading the way with a time of 25:17.2. Shannon Munk stayed in the 25-minute bracket at 25:52.3 and Alexandria Ziemer had a time of 26:39.3.
Mountain Creek took home the team crown with 63 points and Timberline was second at 80. Eagle (187) was third and Skyview (203) and Meridian (209) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
"Those three were all significant faster," Norcutt said. "It was a pivotal race for us," added the coach. "It is encouraging to see the times come down with the hard work the kids are putting in."
Lowry is back in action today at the Reed Invitational in Sparks. The Buckaroos will be at home on Friday, Oct. 10, for the Lowry Invitational at the Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course.
"We are going to continue to work on speed and long distance," Norcutt said. "We need to stay focused, because this is the hard time of the year."[[In-content Ad]]
