WHEATLAND – This past Friday the Wheatland cross-country team ventured to Douglas for the annual River Run. The course begins near the Douglas Middle School soccer field and meanders along I-25 and along the riverbank.
The path is a cement trail that is only bordered by a mere 400 meters of shade trees with the remaining stretch of the loop exposed to the Wyoming mid-afternoon sun. For the high school runners, they make the loop twice to reach the 3.1 mile or 5-kilometer race.
This week Matthew Streets etched out a 21:00 race which was good enough for fifth place in the varsity group as teammate Simon May crossed the line in eighth with a time of 21:20. David Bookout was 15th with a time of 22:58, Gavin May in 16th (23:03) and Derek Sarad was 17th (23:26). Collin Jones took seventh in the junior varsity division with a time of 28:46.
Kayla Beaman did quite well for her first ever 5K earning fifth place in the varsity race with a time of 25:44. Teammate Grace Hanni crossed the finish in 10th with a time of 30:09. In the junior varsity, Megan Cecil took first with a time of 30:24 as teammate Chloe Carpenter was 3rd with a time of 31:14.
“Overall, our coaching staff was very proud of our squad,” said head WHS cross-country coach Sally Nichols. “Our athletes ran well, and most improved by over one minute from last week while enduring a bit of sunshine. We decided we all deserved ice cream at Douglas´ finest dessert shop. Every good 5k should be followed by a couple of scoops. We truly enjoy watching our athletes grow and love making memories together.”
This week the Bulldogs will be headed to Kimball Friday and the following week running in Rawlins with WMS squad.
