WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School cross country teams made their annual trip to Boise, Idaho, this Saturday for the Bob Firman Invitational at Eagle Island State Park.
Teams from seven different states participated, with Lowry, Spring Creek and Elko the only teams from Nevada.
"Overall, I thought it was a good experience for us," said LHS head coach Kathy Norcutt. "A majority of the kids ran faster than they did last year and our young runners looked good once again."
Richie Bleck led the way for the Buckaroo boys in the varsity Division I race with a time of 19 minutes, 40.9 seconds on the 5K course. He finished 184th overall.
Sophomore Devin Morris turned in an impressive performance with a time of 20:03.5 to finish 194th overall. Harley Baker placed 198th in a time of 20:20.3, Nate Nelson was 204th at 21:04.4 and Luis Brown was 208th with a time of 22:12.1.
"We are still battling a couple of injuries with our boys," Norcutt said. "Harley has a shin issue and Luis is fighting through a calf injury. I was very pleased with Devin and the way he ran. He is one of our younger kids that ran well. I thought Richie and Nate had great races as well. Nate was under the weather but battled though it."
The Buckaroos finished 28th as a team with 873 points. Mountain Creek won the team title with 106 points and Park City was second at 130. Boise placed third with 155 points and Wood Creek (155) and Davis (195) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Spring Creek (472) finished 19th and Elko (608) was 22nd.
The freshmen trio of Kobe Fitzpatrick, Devin Dowd and Christopher Kearns continued their strong start to the season. Fitzpatrick finished 54th in the junior varsity 5K race in a time of19:08.2. Dowd placed 179th at 21:42.6 and Kearns was 181st with a time of 21:53.8.
"They ran very well for the competition they were going up against," added the coach. "It was good for them to race along some quality runners."
Haley Weber and Jancy Ulch were the only runners in the varsity race for the Lowry girls. Weber finished 188th in a time of 26:33.6 and Ulch was 190th at 28:04.1.
Lowry did not have enough runners for a team score. Davis claimed the team championship with 73 points, while Timberline was second at 99. American Fork (146) was third and Mountain Creek (151) and Stansbury (201) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Spring Creek was eighth with 285 points and Elko was 14th at 363.
"I was really proud of Jancy," Norcutt said. "She took more than three minutes off her time from last year. Haley ran in Idaho for the first time and turned in a good race. It was a positive experience for our kids to see the class of runners on different teams. It is always a good team bonding trip for us."
Charice Brown ran in the JV race for the Lady Bucks and finished 45th in a time of 23:59.4.
"Charice was right in there as well," said the coach. "She ran a great race. "It is encouraging to see our young runners run like they are."
Lowry was back in action on Thursday when they traveled to Fernley for a meet.
"We have been working hard in practice," Norcutt said. "We have been making practice harder and the kids are rising to that. We are working on our mental toughness. It is a process."[[In-content Ad]]
