The Lowry High School cross country team made the trek to Idaho last Saturday and returned home with a number of personal bests from the Bob Firman Invitational.
The Bob Firman is one of the largest cross country meets in the area, featuring teams from California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon, Montana and Idaho.
“It was a great race for us,” said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. “This is the toughest race we will go to all year. I didn’t want the kids to worry about places, but to cut time off and they did that. We had a number of kids set personal bests. That is all I can ask for right now.”
The Lowry boys finished 47th in the Division I varsity race and were led by junior Will Kracaw. Kracaw, who ran in the state meet a season ago, broke the 17-minute mark for the first time. He stopped the clock at 16 minutes, 52.80 seconds and finished 37th out of 269 runners. Kracaw noted he was happy with his finish and happy about breaking the 17-minute mark.
“That was a big goal for him,” Norcutt said. “He ran a great race against some good runners. That is not too bad of a place to do what he did.”
The Buckaroos had five other runners in the race as well. Hunter Albisu had a personal-best time of 18:20.25 and Christian Olson was just over 19 minutes at 19:03.96. Caden Rorex completed the 5,000-meter course in 20:14.59 and Josh Leveille had a time of 20:15.60. Bryan Day finished at 20:40.33.
“That was a good time for Hunter,” added the coach. “I am looking for Christian to get under 19 minutes soon. This is just his first year of cross country and I have been pleased with him. Caden and Josh are working hard and the goal is to get them under 20 minutes. Bryan is improving all the time. That was a really good time for him.”
Robert Rangel ran in the freshmen boys race and was seventh overall in a time of 17:18.17, which was a personal best for him.
“That was a really impressive finish for him,” Norcutt said. “He has been a great addition as a freshman. He really has pushed Will this year and that has been good to have this year.”
On the girls side, junior Becca Kuskie was 37th in the Division I varsity race with a time of 20:24.68, which was a personal best. Sophomore Makayla Leveille had a time of 22:48.36.
“Becca ran a great race,” Norcutt said. “She always runs smart. Her goal is to get under 20 minutes by the end of the year. She might have a chance to do that in Winnemucca. Makayla was two minutes faster than her time in Dayton. She continues to improve every week.”
Kinsey Albisu ran in the freshmen race and had a time of 24:58.65 for a personal best.
“We took her and threw her in the freshmen race and see what she could do,” Norcutt said. “She had a great race and respectable time. She was right in the middle of the pack.”
Lowry traveled to South Tahoe on Thursday. The race is done differently with kids dressing up in a relay style event. The Buckaroos host their invitational on Friday at Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course.
