Special to the HT
RANGELY | The Rangely harriers kicked off their season at the Basalt Longhorn Invitational, held at Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel, Colorado. The team, which includes three middle school runners and 13 high school runners, started the season with strong performances.
The high school team is composed of seven boys and six girls. Seniors Jay Valdez and Gage Neilsen are leading the high school team this year.
Middle School
Highlights
The middle school runners competed in a combined race. Seventh-grader Dani Thayn led the team with a time of 12:37. In their cross country debut, sixth-grader Dax Halcomb and eighth-grader Rhys Talbot had respectable finishes with times of 13:28 and 13:43, respectively.
“It is fun watching the middle school run and the improvement they build over the season,” said Coach Scoggins.
High School Girls
The high school girls were next to race and were excited to have enough runners to compete as a team. Taya Wren led the team with an impressive second-place finish and a time of 20:01. Making their debuts were sophomore Kira Jo Benson with a time of 26:07 and Kylee Caldwell with a time of 32:47. Other strong performances included Faith Prieto with a 27:03, Addie Thayn with a 31:03, and Courtney Casto with a 35:12. The girls’ team placed sixth overall.
High School Boys
The boys’ team, with seven runners, placed fourth overall. Senior Jay Valdez finished 14th with a time of 20:25, leading the team. Kyler Fouts and Tavan Morgan were close behind, finishing 16th and 17th, with times of 20:26 and 20:37. Antonio Prieto had a solid debut as the team’s fourth runner, finishing in 22:55. Titus Friedrich and Alec Gillard ran close together, with times of 23:12 and 23:18. Senior Gage Neilsen finished with a time of 26:27.
“Basalt is always a good meet to start the season with; it is moderately challenging but has great competition,” said Coach Scoggins. “We learned what we need to work on and saw encouraging things as well.”
The teams will travel to the Grand Mesa Trails for their next meet on Friday, Aug. 29.
