The Lowry High School cross country team competed in its last major regular season race last week in Elko, in preparation for the Division I-A North Regional Championships in Reno.
The Buckaroos made the short trip east on Interstate 80 last Thursday to compete in the Elko Invitational. The Lowry girls finished fifth with 115 points. Spring Creek claimed the team title with 26 points, Elko was second at 48 and Mountain Home (71) and Wells (107) were third and fourth, respectively.
Freshman Becca Kuskie continues her strong freshman campaign, finishing third with a time of 21 minutes, 9 seconds. That was a season-best mark for her. Kuskie has the opportunity to advance to the state championships, with a similar finish at the regional championships next week. Spring Creek’s Julia Mahlke won with a time of 19:33, and Elko’s Kacie Bell was second at 20:40.
“Becca ran an incredibly smart race,” said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. “She was battling a Mountain home runner for most of the race, and it came down to who was tougher. If she stays on pace, she should have a good chance at making state.
Junior Charice Brown finished 22nd at 23:39, while senior teammate Brienna Everhart was 35th in a time of 25:30. Seniors Alexandra Ziemer (26:01) and Camryn Maher (28:30) were 39th and 49th, respectively, and Amelia Weber was 50th at 29:005.
“Brienna was excited about her race,” said the coach. “She has taken nearly nine minutes off her first race of the year. I was happy with Charice as well. She ran a good race.”
The Buckaroo boys placed fifth with 114, while Spring Creek took home first as well with 28 points. Elko was second at 46, and Mountain Home (69) and Lincoln Country (108) were third and fourth, respectively. West Wendover (150) placed sixth.
Devin Dowd led the way for the Lowry boys, finishing 22nd in a time of 19:15. Elko’s Timothy Rose beat out Spring Creek’s Cole Campbell for the individual title. Rose stopped the clock at 17:00, while Campbell was at 17:02.
“I was really happy with Devin,” Norcutt said. “He ran a great race. He ran smart, strong, and it was a season-best for him.”
Will Kracaw was 24th in a time of 19:21, while juniors Christopher Kearns (19:49), Chanse McAllister (20:06) and Omar Aranjo (20:20)were 31st, 35th and 38th respectively.
“They are running right in a pack, and that is what I want to see,” Norcutt said. “Omar had a bit of an off race. But, its better to have that one bad race now, instead of next week in Reno. They work hard all year for one race that counts. The boys are running strong right now.”
Joe Gildone placed 44th at 20:57, Liam Gallups finished 57th with a time of 22:06, Jacob Means finished 68th at 23:18, and Braden Thomas (30:57) was 82nd.
The Buckaroos were in Spring Creek for the JV championships on Thursday. Results were not available at press time.
Lowry will race at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno on Saturday, Oct. 31, in the Division I-A Regional Championships. The girls run at 9:40 a.m. and the boys start at 12:15 p.m.
The top three teams in each race advance to the state championships at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno on Saturday, Nov. 7. The top five individuals on non-qualifying teams advance to state as well.
