LHS harriers run fast times in Worland

The Lovell High School cross country teams took on the course at the Warrior Invitational in Worland last Friday. It was sunny, leaning more on the hotter side. Despite the heat and a tough week of practices, the Bulldogs showed lots of improvement across the board.

On the girls side, the team rested their top runner, Elana Schilthuis, to let her recover from some lingering soreness. That opened the door for sophomore Caylee Herman to lead the team on the junior varsity side, finishing with her second-fastest time of the season and returning to the 24-minute range.

“It wasn’t a PR for her, but it was good to see her bounce back,” said Coach Caleb Sanders. Herman placed 13th with a time of 24:43. Both Toree Herman and Atlee Sanders also finished with their best times of the year. Toree placed 23rd with a time of 28:40, and Sanders ended in 32nd place with a time of 30:05. The coaches were very proud of them.

Junior Candace Walker placed 18th with a time of 27:18.

Boys results

The boys team had 15 runners compete in Worland. It was the first time this season Lovell had all their boy runners available.

Six boys ran in varsity. Leading the team was senior David Durfee, who placed 11th overall with a strong time of 17:45.

“We’re hoping David can get under 17:17 as the season goes on,” Sanders said.

Senior Owen Hill ran back into his 19-minute range, bouncing back to where he was at the beginning of the season. He placed 40th with a time of 19:45.

Jacob Thomas competed for the first time coming off his golf season and still finished as the team’s third-fastest runner. He placed 49th with a time of 20:39. 

Sam Mayes ran a standout race, Coach Sanders said. He finished in 51st place with a time of 20:47.

Other varsity results: Hudsen Mickelson, 56th, 21:19; Jay Mayes, 58th, 21:29.

JV results

Freshman Isaac Sanders earned runner of the week honors after consistently placing in the team’s top five throughout the season. He has been a strong runner on the team. He placed 12th in the junior varsity division with a time of 20:40. Freshman Oscar Garcia followed right behind in 13th with a time of 20:42. He continues to impress the coaches as being a consistent placer in the top five, as well.

Ethan Hendershot had a standout race with his best performance of the year, dipping under 22 minutes for the first time. “That’s the fastest race he’s had this year,” Sanders noted. “He was really close to a PR, and we think he’ll get that in the next week or two.” He placed 20th with a time of 21:37.

Rick Jensen was also able to PR and is also getting closer to reaching his goal of going under 23 minutes. He ran a 23:14, finishing 37th. 

Zander Stahl placed 42nd with a time of 24:14. He was another runner transitioning in from golf.

Other JV results: Grant Rose, 36th, 23:14; Taevan Henton, 57th, 30:06; Gage Pillow, 60th, 31:17.

The team has continued to apply their running styles to their racing to help them at State, Sanders said.

Five Springs Challenge

On Tuesday for practice the runners tackled the Five Springs Challenge. It’s a tradition that runners race up Five Springs Road in the Big Horn Mountains for 20 minutes straight. Each runner gives their all trying to beat their times from previous years. It was followed by a team dinner at the campground.

“It’s a love-hate run. It’s tough, but the kids embrace it. It builds the teams toughness and confidence,” Coach Sanders said.

This week the Bulldogs will compete Friday at the Cody Foxes and Hounds meet, held at the Cody Olive Glenn Golf Course. The unique format sends runners off every 20 seconds, with slower athletes starting first and the fastest beginning last, creating a chase-style race. This makes more motivation not to get caught and to catch those in front. The girls will begin at 2 p.m. followed by the boys at 2:45.