This past weekend, the Rangely Panther high school cross country teams opened up their competitive season at the Meeker XC Invitational. After a good summer of running and encouraging first couple of weeks of practice, the Panthers were looking forward to this one.
The Rangely cross country team will have 13 athletes out with 11 boys and two girls. The team will have six seniors; four of those seniors ran at the state meet last year. The boys team will be strong again this year with returning runners Andrew Dorris and James Talbot, Anthony Dorris, Kevin Wren, Fisher Winder and Justin Allred. There are four new athletes on the team: Colton Stevens, Joseph Valdez, Caiden French, Gage Nielsen and Matthew Morgan. For the girls team, Rylee Allred and Macy Morgan will be runningl They will both be working hard to improve their times and see if they can slip into the state meet. Left to right are seniors Colton Stevens, Fisher Winder, Andrew Dorris, Rylee Allred, Kevin Wren and Anthony Dorris. | MATT SCOGGINS PHOTO
The varsity boys took off first, led by sophomore James Talbot and senior Andrew Dorris. Talbot completed the 5-kilometer course in 20:14, just off of the overall winning time, and finished 3rd. Andrew Dorris was right behind, taking 5th in 20:18. Anthony Dorris, Kevin Wren, Fisher Winder, and Justin Allred closed things out for the varsity Panthers in 12th, 13th, 18th, and 22nd, respectively. The team scored 42 points to place 2nd overall.
Macy Morgan, a junior, was up next and the lone Panther in the girls varsity race. Morgan finished 20th overall and took off over two minutes from her time last year, despite this course being tougher.
Joseph Valdez, Caiden French, Gage Nielsen, and Matthew Morgan, all freshmen, got their first taste of high school cross country racing as they competed in the JV boys race. In a great showing for all of them, Valdez led the frosh with a time of 25:56 and crossed the line in 9th. French was then 10th, Nielsen 11th, and Morgan 13th.
“It was a good first meet with a big hill and several small hills throughout the course,” said head coach Beth Scoggins. “The boys did a great job running together and working the entire course.”
The Panthers will be competing next Saturday, August 27, at the Basalt Longhorn Cross Country Invitational.
Special to the Herald Times