Improving Bulldogs run well in Big Horn

The Lovell Bulldogs are getting into shape. Running at the Big Horn Equestrian Center in Sheridan County Friday, the Lovell cross country team competed well against teams from the eastern part of the state, including a strong Buffalo squad, at the Big Horn Invitational.

“We compared times to last year, and there was improvement across the board,” Lovell head coach Caleb Sanders said. “So we shared that with the kids, how they ran faster times.”

The top finisher for the Lovell boys was junior David Durfee, who placed 10th in the field of 55 with a time of 18:43, 29 seconds faster than his time on the same course a year ago.

“David ran a good race,” Sanders said. “He always starts fast, but he’s getting better at maintaining his speed. His first and last miles are really good. His middle mile is where he needs some fine tuning. Overall, he’s a lot better at maintaining his speed from previous years.”

Senior Stetson Asay placed 15th in a time of 20:25, his fastest time of the season so far and a time 31 seconds faster than his time a year ago.

Sophomore Sam Mayes finished 25th in 21:07, and senior Dino DeLaCruz was hot on his heels in 26th place at 21:10. Mayes ran a time 2:40 faster than his time one year ago, and DeLaCruz completed the course 13 seconds faster last year. Junior Hugh Carpenter finished 33rd in 22:34, nearly two minutes faster than his 2023 race.

“Sam has consistently been our third runner, and Dino is showing improvement,” Sanders said. “Hugh is the one who really stood out. His time was the best of the season so far for him. He had some back pain and is now pain free. That helped. He ran a PR (personal record) by six seconds.”

Carpenter was named the male runner of the week by Lovell coaches.

Junior Jaxen Clark finished 35th in 22:48, his first time running in the 22s this season and a personal record.

Senior Thane Zollman finished 40th in 23:31, a full five minutes faster than his time in Big Horn a year ago.

Other Lovell runners were sophomore Hudsen Mickelson, 25:08, and freshman Gage Pillow, 29:55.

Lady Bulldogs

The top runner for the Lovell girls team was freshman Caylee Herman, who placed 13th out of 57 runners in a time of 24:03.

“Caylee could be faster,” Sander said. “Her last two miles are awesome. She just needs to start a little faster. That’s something she’s aware of. For a freshman to run as smart as she does is impressive to us as coaches.”

Also running strong in Big Horn was junior Elana Schilthuis, who finished 19th in a time of 24:50 and was named the female runner of the week.

“Elana cut over a minute off her time as a season best,” Sanders said. “She’s getting closer to Caylee, closing that gap. She’s learning the nuances of the sport better than most of our runners. She’s a girl with no sports experience in high school, and she comes in and runs eight-minute miles for three straight miles. That’s fantastic. She has natural ability we’re trying to tap into even more.”

Senior Danika Crumrine finished 37th in 28:34, freshman Juliette Caldwell 42nd in 29:41, sophomore Candace Walker 47th in 30:21 and junior Atlee Sanders 52nd in 33:23.

“Danika took a minute off of her season best,” Coach Sanders said. “Her goal was to run in the 28-minute range, and she did that. Juliette ran under 30 minutes for the first time in her running career, and that was exciting for us as coaches. Candace ran a season best.

“Atlee wasn’t feeling great. It wasn’t her best race.”

The high school portion of the Rocky Mountain Invitational Monday was cancelled, so the Bulldogs have no meets this week. But they will conduct the Five Springs Challenge on Thursday, in which runners have 20 minutes to see how far they can run up the Five Springs Road, all uphill.

“That’s one of the season highlights for us,” Sanders noted.