Bulldogs run strong at Cody

The Lovell High School cross country teams are hitting their stride as they near the final stretch of the 2024 season.

Running at the Cody Foxes and Hounds meet on Thursday, nearly every member of the team ran a personal record or close to a PR, Lovell head coach Caleb Sanders noted, though the format led to one or two having trouble with their pace.

In the fox and hound format, the slowest runners start first and are “chased” down by the faster runners. In each race the junior varsity runners start first, then coaches start their seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second and first runners every 20 seconds.

Sanders said the timing and placing was a bit unreliable in Cody, but six runners set PRs on Thursday, confirmed by his own timekeeping.

The top runner for the Lovell boys in Cody was junior David Durfee, who ran a career best time of 18:21.

“David has never run in the 18:20s before, and he runs 18:21,” Sanders noted. “He was our fastest runner and has been all year. He’s holding his speed consistently, holding on the back half of the race pretty good.”

Junior Jacob Thomas is getting his cross-country legs under him after competing in golf earlier in the fall and ran a season-best time of 19:25. Sanders said he ran during the summer and will continue to improve as he gets in shape.

Senior Stetson Asay ran his best time of the season by nearly a full minute, completing the course in 19:29, just nine seconds off his PR from last season.

“Stetson ran 56 seconds faster than his best time of the season,” Sanders said. “This was a big leap for Stetson this season. We have seen it in workouts, and now we’re seeing it in a race.”

Senior Dino DeLaCruz ran his best time of the season at 20:18, not far off his 2023 PR of 20:00.

“The big thing with Dino is that the races feel better for him,” Sanders said. “Last year was painful, but he’s feeling better this year.”

The biggest surprise on the team, Sanders said, was sophomore Hudsen Mickelson, who blew away his PR with a time of 21:10. His previous best was 24:51 in Ethete.

“That was a surprise,” Sanders said. “Sometimes in practice he runs really fast, but we haven’t seen it for three miles. It will be interesting to see in
Powell if that’s a new trend for him.”

Other top runners for the Bulldogs were sophomore Sam Mayes, 21:13, junior Damian Wagner, 21:17 (PR), and junior Jaxen Clark, 21:56 (PR).

Wagner “keeps getting faster,” Sanders said, adding that Clark ran under 22 minutes for the first time.

Senior Thane Zollman ran a personal record 22:45.

“He works hard,” Sanders said. “He puts in the effort. He has created his own success.”

Junior Hugh Carpenter ran 23:34, junior Jay Mayes 23:58, freshman Rick Jensen 25:36 and freshman Gage Pillow 30:03.

Sanders noted that Jensen ran in competition for the first time this season after playing golf in the early weeks of the semester like Thomas.

“This gives us an idea of where he’s at,” Sanders said. “He probably ran a little faster than I expected.”

Girls results

The top runner for the Lovell girls was junior Elana Schilthuis, who finished in 22:59. While not a personal record, it was a solid time, Sanders said.

“She cruised in the final mile,” he said. “She ran a blistering pace. She’s a closer. The format may have been hard for her to gauge.”

Also strong was freshman Caylee Herman, who ran a personal-record 23:01, her season best by 44 seconds.

“That was a huge PR for Caylee,” Sanders said. “She works really hard in practice and is really deliberate. She processes the art of running and is aware of her pacing.”

Senior Danika Crumrine ran 27:26, just eight seconds off her PR, and sophomore Candace Walker ran a season best 28:18.

Powell Invitational

The Bulldogs will close out the regular season at the Powell Invitational today (Thursday) at the Powell Golf Course. Sanders said running begins at 1 p.m. with the junior varsity girls race, followed by the JV boys at 1:30, the varsity girls at 2 p.m. and the varsity boys at 2:30.

The 3A West Conference meet follows in Riverton on Friday, Oct. 18.