Grizz prep for State Cross Country with run at conference meet

The Rocky Mountain cross country team tuned up for the state meet Friday by traveling to Ethete for the Five Rivers Conference/2A West Regional meet hosted by Fort Washakie High School but run on the Wyoming Indian High School course.

For the first time in several weeks, the Grizzlies had a complete team, and times were solid, especially considering the tougher course than the team experienced in recent meets.

The Lady Grizzlies placed fourth Friday with 68 points behind first place Wyoming Indian, second place Thermopolis and third place Lovell.

The top finisher for the Lady Grizz was sophomore Evynn Alvarez, who crossed the finish line 24th in a time of 27:47, her second fastest time of the season. Close behind her was senior Gwynff Bodtke finishing 25th in 27:58.

Sophomore Ellie Alvarez finished 28th in 30:16, senior Ashley Pizana 31st with a personal record time of 31:28.

The Grizzlies finished sixth Friday, and the top runner was junior Xander Tippetts, who finished 32nd in a time of 21:05. Not far behind Tippetts was junior Cole Minchow, finishing 39th and running the course in 21:36. 

Senior Noah Bisby ran a personal record time of 21:41 to finish 40th, and freshman Dalan Wambeke finished 50th in 23:17. Junior Alex Hedges ran 25:18 (57th), senior Noah Johnson 26:23 (62nd).

“We struggled a bit this week,” coach Tim Jones said. “The course was bumpy and uneven and created a difficult challenge for even the best runners. I heard of very few PRs this week. The cooler weather was great for some and a struggle for others, depending on personal preference.

“State will be another tough test. It is at a pretty high elevation. The great thing about that is we all run the same course,
so it will come down to which runners manage that the best.”

The state cross country meet will be held this Saturday at the Cheyenne Country Club. The 2A boys race at 11 a.m.,
the 2A girls at
12:30 p.m.