It was a good day for the Lowry Cross Country team in Wells this past Friday, as the Buckaroos swept the individual titles in both the girls and boys races.
Lowry senior Jovi Kuskie set a new course record on the 5,000-meter Chimney Rock Golf Course at 19 minutes, 15 seconds.
She shattered the old record of 20:18 set by Shelby Dorsal (Elko, 2013).
Elko’s Arowyn Potter was second at 23:20 and Elko’s Alysia Carr finished third with a time of 24:20.
“She did it without any help from the competition as she was way out in front,” said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. “It’s a true testament of her competitive spirit to be able to push herself on her own. She was truly beautiful to watch.”
Freshman Natalee Formby also had a strong performance, finishing fourth overall. Formby ran her fastest time of the season in 24:40.
“She had a great start and then just hung in there,” Norcutt said. “We are very happy with our girls’ performances.”
There were no team scores in the girls race.
On the boys side, the Buckaroos had another stellar day led by Eduardo Calderon.
The senior ran a personal-best 17:22 to take first place, beating out Liam Hamilton from Spring Creek by 27 seconds.
Lowry junior Ivan Lara placed third, also with a personal best of 17:39. Lara beat Spring Creek’s Benjamin Claridge, who had bested him at our home meet the week before.
“We are excited to see both Eduardo and Ivan break that 18-minute mark,” Norcutt said.
Spring Creek’s Dillyn Sanchez (18:04) and Elko’s Braylon Baggett (18:08) rounded out the top five.
Senior Angel Huerta placed in the top-10 for the Buckaroos, coming in seventh place with another personal best of 18:28.
“Angel has been working diligently to drop his times,” added the coach.
Tyler Morrison was the fourth finisher for Lowry in 13th with a time of 19:12. Norcutt added that Morrison ran his best race of the season so far.
Sophomore Austin Formby was 16th in a 20:00 and Kaid Sanchez placed 17th with a time of 20:03.
“Both Austin and Kaid did a great job of running together and not letting another team get between them,” Norcutt said.
Spring Creek won the team title with 30 points, Lowry was second at 40 and Elko (58) placed third.
“Spring Creek only beat us by 10 points this week,” said the coach. “We just keep grinding away. The boys just keep working incredibly hard. We are very excited about the improvements we are seeing each week. The boys are working hard to beat them. They (Spring Creek) are just so deep. They have 12 quality runners and we have six. But we are going to give it hell and to try to beat them.”
Norcutt said Natalee Formby will run a the JV championships on Thursday in Spring Creek. Lowry will also run on Friday at Sierra Lutheran.
