Grizzly cross country places two in top 10 at Wright

The Rocky Mountain High School cross country team took to the road last weekend, traveling over the Big Horn Mountains and across northern Wyoming to the Brittany Rentas Memorial Invitational at Wright Saturday.

The meet gave the Grizzlies a chance to see several of the smaller school programs they will face at the state meet later this month. The field included Casper Christian, Glenrock, Hulett, Lusk, Moorcroft, Sundance, Wyoming Classical Academy and host Wright.

The weather was nearly perfect at race time, which helped on a course that Coach Gerry Burton said is more difficult than the times might suggest. The Wright course includes a long, gradual climb that can wear on runners as the race progresses.

Rocky Mountain had four boys compete, led by sophomore Rowan Hanusa, who placed sixth overall in 19:44. Hanusa continued his strong season and was able to move up through the field as the race developed.

“I told him the time he needed to shoot to run with an athlete from Sundance,” Burton said. “He was running with him, and he was like, ‘I felt like I needed to go faster, so I did.’ I’m glad he took off away from him because then he placed higher and still was able to drop his time.”

Jason Unruh gave the Grizzlies a second runner in the top 10, finishing 10th in 20:53.

“He ran really strong, as well,” Burton said. “I kind of told him the kids he needed to be around, and he ran in front of them, which was good.”

Perhaps the biggest performance of the day, however, belonged to freshman Tristan Kerchner.

Kerchner entered the race with one very specific goal: break 25 minutes. He did it, barely, finishing 26th in 24:59.51, a half second ahead of his goal.

“He wanted to beat 25 minutes, so he just ran really hard,” Burton said. “I said, ‘You have to be up in front of those runners the whole time to even come close,’ and so that’s what he did.”

The improvement has been dramatic for a runner in his first season of cross country. Kerchner ran over 30 minutes in his first meet and has now cut more than five minutes from his time.

“He does work hard in practice,” Burton said. “Sometimes he gets distracted and slows down, but that day he was really focused on his goal. He met his goal.”

Freshman Derek Hedges rounded out the Rocky Mountain runners, placing 29th in 27:34 despite not feeling well before or during the race.

“He felt kind of off,” Burton said. “Even before we started running, when we did their warmups, he was like, ‘I’m just short of breath. I’m starting to hurt and get cramps.’ He just ran through all of it. He stuck with it and finished.”

The Grizzlies were missing a few runners at Wright because of other commitments, but Burton expects a larger group back this week. Rocky Mountain hopes to have six boys and one girl competing at the Powell Invitational.

Burton said Powell should provide a good opportunity for fast times.

“Powell’s course is a course you can set PRs on,” he said. “I like it because, as a coach, I can be in a lot of places with a short amount of time to get there. It’s good for coaching, and it’s also close to home.”

The Powell meet will also give the Grizzlies another chance to prepare for the postseason. Rocky Mountain will compete at the regional meet in Burlington next week before heading to the state cross country championships in Cheyenne.

The meet Friday will be held at the Powell Golf course.  JV boys will race at 1 p.m., followed by the JV girls at 1:30. The varsity boys will take the course at 2 p.m., with the varsity girls wrapping up the meet at 2:30 p.m.