Lady Bulldogs shine at Wyoming Indian in spite of the heat

Times in Ethete for week two of the Lovell High School cross country season were a bit slower as the Bulldogs ran at the Wyoming Indian Chief Nation Invitational Friday thanks to a slightly tougher course and hot temperatures, head coach Caleb Sanders reported this week.

“It was very hot,” he said. “That was probably the main reason times were down (compared to the Billings meet). “The course is a little more hilly, but it was hotter than the week before.

“The most impressive thing was the line for the snow cone machine,” he added with a smile.

Sanders entered most of his girls team in the junior varsity race, though two ran varsity for time reasons, having to head north to dance with the LHS dance team at the football game.

Four Lady Bulldogs placed in the top 10 JV runners led by freshman Caylee Herman, who won the race in a time of 24:43, followed by Elana Schilthuis in second at 26:36.

Coaches named Schilthuis as the female runner of the week.

“Both Elana and Caylee ran very smart races,” Sanders said. “They were patient and put themselves in a good position without ruining their race in the first mile. About a half mile in, Caylee was in third place and Elana was in fifth.

“Elana is new to the sport but has a natural instinct for pacing. That’s one of the hardest things to teach.”

Senior Danika Crumrine ran her first race in years, Sanders said, and placed sixth in a time of 29:23; junior Atlee Sanders placed ninth in 31:53.

“Danika is a tough girl,” Sanders said. “Even though she was not in shape yet, I knew she’d grit it out.

“Atlee was happy to be in the top 10. That might be her first cross country medal.”

The Lovell JV girls won the race with 16 finish points, well ahead of second place Wyoming Indian with 30 points, Lander (42) and Manila, Utah (51).

Freshman Juliette Caldwell and sophomore Candace Walker ran in the varsity race, which preceded the JV race, so they could be taken by parents to dance at the Lovell-Big Horn football game. Walker placed 29th in 34:08, Caldwell 30th in 34:24.

Boys results

Sanders ran five Bulldogs in the boys varsity race and five in the junior varsity race, and coaches named junior David Durfee as the male runner of the week for his eighth-place finish in the varsity race, running a time of 19:04.

“He placed in the top 10 and was our fastest boy,” Sanders noted. “He’s holding his quick starts. It makes me happy to see him running so consistently.”

Lovell’s second fastest boy was senior Stetson Asay, who placed 26th in the varsity race in a time of 20:54.

“Stetson ran really good,” Sanders said. “He’s turning into a team leader as a senior. He’s competitive in practice and competitive in meets. He takes the sport seriously. He leads not with what he says but by how hard he works and his desire.”

Senior Dino DeLaCruz competed in his first race this season Friday and finished 32nd in a time of 21:35, followed by sophomore Sam Mayes, 38th, in 21:57 and senior Thane Zollman, 46th, in 23:33.

“This was Dino’s first race, and when he has raced in the past he hurts. He pushes himself probably harder than most,” Sanders said. “For me, it was encouraging that he was able to do a race without it being such a painful experience.

“Sam is starting to show he’s our third or fourth runner, two weeks in a row. We’ll be paying attention to the order of our next six runners, which will determine a lot – who runs at the end of the season. It will be a battle. They’ve switched places quite a bit.

“Coach (Bret) George and I are curious to see who emerges into the top four or five from the group of six. I don’t know how it will shake out.”

Junior Jay Mayes placed 11th in the junior varsity race, running the course in 22:51, followed by junior Damian Wagner, placing 14th in 23:20, junior Jaxen Clark 16th in 23:39, junior Hugh Carpenter 21st in 23:58 and sophomore Hudsen Mickelson 29th in 24:51.

Big Horn next

The Bulldogs will next travel across the mountains to the Big Horn Invitational, held at the Big Horn Equestrian Center, on Friday. Sanders said the races start at 11 a.m. with the middle school girls, followed by the middle school boys at 11:30, the high school girls at 1 p.m. and the high school boys at 1:30.

Rocky Mountain

The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies did not have a meet last week but will run in Big Horn Friday. Both Lovell and Rocky were scheduled to compete at the Rocky Mountain Invitational next Monday, Sept. 16, at Foster Gulch, but since they were the only two schools who would commit to attend, Sanders said, only middle school races will be held, starting at 4 p.m.