Rangely girls take third, advance to state race

RANGELY | The Rangely Panthers cross country team went to the 2A Region 4 meet in Delta on Friday, Oct. 19. The meet had 15 teams all from the western slope and all 2A teams. The top 15 individual runners and top five teams would be advancing to the state meet.
The girls were the first to race and going into the race they felt they had a chance at being one of the top five teams but to be successful they were going to have to race smart and work together. The race started with 59 girls, all hoping to finish in the top 15 or help their teams make it to state. As the race progressed the runners spread out into several packs. At the 1.5 mile mark, Mary Scoggins was in the first pack with five other girls, although they were well behind Chloe Veilleux from Soroco, the No. 1 ranked girl in 2A. RaeLynn Norman was in the next group and sitting in about 12th place, while Aliyah Jackson was only a few places back from her. Chloe Filfred was sitting about the middle of the pack. As the runners came around for the last 400 meters Scoggins was in second place with the rest of the pack quite a ways back. Jackson had made a move and was sitting in 16th place but was able to pass two more runners before the finish line. Raelynn, who had been suffering from back pain, finished the race in 18th place. Chloe Filfred finished as the fourth runner for the team while Brooke Filfred finished fifth for the team. All the girls had a new personal record: Scoggins finished second with a time of 20:14, Jackson placed 14th with a 21:24, Norman finished 18th with a time of 22:07, Chloe Filfred ran a 23:37 placing 37th and Brooke Filfred ran a 35:31. With the girls’ new personal records and all placing so well the team was able to place third overall and will be running as a team at the state meet.
The boys were on the line next. Knowing that the girls ran hard and set new personal records, they also wanted new personal records. Senior Marshall Webber started out feeling good and knowing that this might be his last meet of his career decided to go for it. At the 1.5 mile mark he was sitting 20th but his legs were telling him that they were not in good enough shape to hold on. Webber finished the race in 37th place but with an impressive time of 19:38, two minutes faster than his fastest time. Freshman Colton Noel likes to start the race off slower and than catch everyone the last mile and half, he didn’t change his game plan for this race. He was sitting towards the back but made his move on at least 10 other runners and finished 46th with a time of 20:02. This was a new personal record for Noel by almost two minutes. Timothy Scoggins was the third runner for the boys’ team, his goal was to beat 23 minutes and run hard. He was successful in that goal. His new personal record is now a 22:37. Unfortunately, none of the boys will be moving on to the state meet but they will find themselves busy: Webber with basketball, Noel continuing to run and Scoggins focusing on football.
The girls will be competing on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 12:20 p.m. in Colorado Springs at the Norris Penrose Event Center.

Special to the Herald Times