RANGELY I The Rangely High School cross country team only had a short drive this past weekend to take part in the Moffat County Invitational Cross Country Meet in Craig, with some excellent finishes by the Panther runners.
The meet started off with the middle school athletes running first as five boys and one girl represented Rangely.
Ben Nielsen, a seventh grader, led the Rangely runners, taking third place in the meet with a time of 15:09. The other athletes: Colton Noel ran a 19:44, Chloe Filfred a 22:42, Philip Noyes a 23:10, Timothy Scoggins a 23:11 and Brent Cantrell a 26:34.
This meet was about a half-mile longer then what the team members were used to; it was 2.4 miles instead of the usual 1.8 miles.
For the high school girls, everyone ran varsity and did well.
Two of the four runners got a personal best at the meet, which is hard to do since this is not a fast course. Savannah Nielsen led the girls with a time of 23:05, good enough for 17th place. Phalon Osborn wasn’t that far behind her with a time of 23:32, placing 24th which was a PR for her. Raelynn Norman turned in 24:30 and captured 32nd place while Miekka Peck got another personal best with a time of 31:54, putting her in 54th place.
The boys were able to place at this meet as a team, claiming seventh place overall.
Patrick Scoggins led the Panther boys’ team with a first-place finish and a time of 17:35.
Brennan Noyes was next in line with a time of 21:30, good enough for 34th place.
Austin Ficken is now running with the Panthers after golf season, and he finished with a time of 22:48, placing in 49th. Cameron Filfred took 67th place with a time of 26:48; and Caleb Noel was right behind him taking 68th place with a time of 28:29, which was personal best for him.
The Rangely runners will be in Aspen this weekend running up the mountains.