MEEKER | The Meeker Cowboy cross country team opened its season last Saturday running in Grand Junction, Colo. They attended the Warrior Invitational, hosted by Grand Junction Central at Matchett Park. Open air racing on a mix of gravel roads and dirt trails is the chosen sport for 11 Cowboys.
“I saw some nice running on Saturday,” said head coach Marty Casey, “While we can definitely make improvements, everyone who ran this course last year was faster this year.”
Cross country is a sport raced by individuals and their placing earns points towards their team. Eleven kids on the team means the Cowboys have both varsity and JV teams. The varsity boys’ race was first up for the day, followed by the varsity girls teams, then JV boys and girls. Cross country is not an official sport in junior high school, so this was the freshman runners first taste of competition.
“I am looking forward to seeing the progress they all make this year,” commented Casey.
Next up for the cross country team will be Delta’s Devil’s Thumb Hill Climb on Friday, with races starting at 10 a.m.
Meeker Cowboy Varsity Boys
Pake Burke, Senior—32nd place, 21 minutes 17.3 seconds
Ashdon Seibert, Sophomore— 38th place, 22:31.9
Josh Day, Sophomore—41st place, 25:26.5
Josh Dinwiddie, Junior—43rd place, 25:53.6
Meeker Cowboy Varsity Girls
Briar Meszaros, Senior—16th place, 23:17.6
Meeker Cowboy JV Boys
Owen Hannemann, Freshman— 11th place, 22:37.9
Damon Dade, Freshman—18th place, 24:05.0
Shane Kobald, Freshman—20th place, 24:17.7
Zach Harman, Junior—28th place, 32:07.0
Meeker Cowboy JV Girls
Lacey Ford, Senior—18th place, 31:23.2
Alana Nielsen, Freshman—20th place, 31:55.6
By Tiffany Jehorek
Special to the Herald Times