RBC runners compete at Basalt

RBC I The harriers from Meeker and Rangely crossed paths for the first time this season as the two teams towed the line for the 10:45 a.m. start this past Saturday at Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel. A much smaller affair for both teams compared to last weekend, the runners enjoyed the cool mountain air and relatively flat terrain for a fast and competitive 5K race. Strong performances by all the runners made for a tight team finish in the boys’ race and the Panthers slipped past the Cowboys with a one-point margin of victory as the Panthers finished tied for second with 43 points and the Cowboys finished in fourth with 44 points. In the girls’ race, Perry Walter was the lone runner from Rio Blanco County and had a strong performance for the Cowboys, finishing in seventh place.
The Cowboys were led by junior Jake Boesch and senior Lathrop Hughes who finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Boesch completed the course in a time of 18:27 and is showing good discipline as he is working his way back into form after sustaining a foot injury last winter. Hughes finished with a time of 18:32, which was a 30 second improvement over last year’s race and is seeing the benefits of putting a few miles in over the summer. Caleb Lange in his first race of the year finished the course in a time of 20:27 and earned 12th place. Sam Lange also competed in his first race of the year and cruised in with a time of 24:03 and a 25th place finish.
William Scoggins set the pace for this race and left the pack after the first mile going on to win by more than a minute by finishing in a time of 17:00. Chris Hogan ran a personal best this weekend finishing in a time of 19:43 with an eighth place finish. Mitchell Webber knocked 1:27 off his time from a year ago on this course by finishing in 11th place with a time of 20:26 while setting his personal best. Daniel Connor took more than minutes off his time from last weekend as he finished in a time of 23:58 earning a 23rd place finish.
The two teams will travel in different directions this weekend as the Cowboys will be competing in Grand Junctions on Sept. 14 while the Panthers will be competing in Eagle Valley on Sept. 15.