Grizz show improvement at Worland

The Rocky Mountain cross country team is getting healthy, both in a participation sense and a competition sense as the Grizzlies reach the heart of the 2024 season, competing at the Worland Invitational Thursday at the Green Hills Golf Course on a toasty early fall day.

Sophomore Sam Loyning returned to the lineup after missing the Lander meet with a hip injury and placed third in the boys junior varsity division in a time of 19:49, nearly a minute faster than his time at Big Horn on September 13.

Coach Tim Jones noted that it was the first time Loyning has run in the 19-minute range.

Freshman Zach Unruh ran a strong race, placing eighth in the JV division at 20:25, a full minute faster than his personal-record time of 21:27 at Big Horn.

“It was hot, almost 90. We’re getting into better shape, and it’s the fastest course we’ve run on this year,” Jones said when asked about the improved time. “So it’s a mixture of both of those things.”

Junior Dyami Rock also ran his best time of the season, completing the course in 24:09 to finish 35th in the JV division, and freshman Cody Miller
ran a time of 24:35, finishing 38th.

“Everybody is improving,” Jones said. “Cross country is just such a mental thing. Learning to hurt and being willing to hurt is critical to improvement.”

On the girls side, junior Evynn Alvarez finished 30th in the junior varsity race in a time of 29:22, and
sister Ellie Alvarez placed 35th in 31:04.

Jones hopes to have senior Rebecca Herren
back soon.

Wright meet

As the Grizzlies begin the stretch run of the season, they will compete at the Wright Invitational Saturday, with the girls running at noon and the boys at 12:30 p.m.

“There will be 11 or 12 teams there, and most of them will be 2A schools,” Jones said. “It’ll be nice to compete against schools our size. The largest school there will be Newcastle. It’s also nice to run against somebody different.

“It’s on the Hay Creek Golf Course. There’s a little bit of a climb to it, but
it’s generally a nice, flat course. It’s not a bad course to run on.”