RANGELY | The Rangely Panthers sent 17 distance runners to the Moffat County Invitational this past weekend, competing in all four races: middle school girls, middle school boys, high school girls, and high school boys. The Panthers have a long history of success on the course stretching throughout Loudy-Simpson Park with six individual titles and a top-5 finish every year since 2011.
Following the same schedule as last weekend, the middle school girls were the first race of the morning for the Panthers. Alyxis Boren finished the 3-kilometer course in 17:57 to lead her team. Faith Prieto was next across the line in 19:25, with Kesleigh Kennedy and Hailey Armstrong finishing neck and neck in 20:04. Olivia Olsen rounded out the young girls’ team in 20:49.
The pair of Taven Morgan and Alec Gillard completed the same 3K course next for the middle school boys’ race. Taven led the way, crossing the line 16:00 with Alec finishing in 18:44.
Taya Wren wasted no time in introducing herself to the front of the 5K high school girls’ race. In a battle that lasted just under 21 minutes, Taya finished in second place with a time of 20:50 and just a hair off her first career win. Courtney Casto came across the line next for the lady Panthers in 26:38 and Macy Morgan completed the race in 31:18.
As the high school boys toed the starting line, all eyes were on the Panthers’ very own James Talbot as he prepared to defend his Moffat County Invitational title. Last year James narrowly secured victory in 17:47. This past weekend James won with a comfortable cushion between himself and the rest of the field as he crossed the line as the back-to-back victor in 17:10. Logan Peterson led the remaining Panthers in a steady stream across the finish line with a time of 20:29. Justin Allred ran 20:37, Lincoln Harris 21:42, Kacey Allred 22:13, Gage Nielsen 24:23, and Matthew Morgan 25:08.
The Panthers will be taking next weekend off but will resume racing on Saturday, Oct. 7 in Aspen.
