These four Rio Blanco County cross country runners will compete at the state meet this Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo. From the Rangely Panthers, Raelynn Norman and Patrick Scoggins will make the trip. This will be Scoggins’ third state competition. Austin Russell and Julia Eskelson will represent the Meeker Cowboys.
MEEKER | Confluence Park in Delta once again hosted the regional meet for Meeker and the 2A Region 4 teams, and the nickname of “Delta Speedway” was certainly appropriate this year. Nearly all of Meeker’s runners posted new personal records. The boys’ race started at noon and Austin Russell went out strong, pushing the pace throughout. Tough competition found him finishing in third place, individually qualifying for the state meet, with a career best time of 16:07. Meeker’s second to finish, and 23rd overall, Tannen Kennedy continued to impress. He crossed the line in 18:27, more than 30 seconds better than previous efforts. Josh Cochran had a great race as well, with a 19:16, and 35th place. Clay Anderson was Meeker’s fourth to finish, in 39th place, at 19:51. Pake Burke was close behind, in 20:04, and 42nd place. Christopher Strate, the Cowboys’ sixth runner, finished in 47th place in 21:01, and Alex Murray managed a new personal best, crossing the line in 24:43, for 61st place. Meeker placed sixth out of the nine scoring teams. The girls’ race followed and Julia Eskelson also PR’d, breaking into the 19’s, with a state qualifying fifth place finish, in 19:47. Lacey Ford posted her own new best time of 25:43, in 39th place. “I really saw great effort from everyone, and the race times reflect that. I am very proud of all of them. We are all excited to have Austin and Julia representing Meeker at the state meet.” The state cross country championship will be held in Colorado Springs on Saturday at the Norris Penrose Event Center. The 2A boys run at 12:40 p.m., and the 2A girls at 2 p.m.
