It came a day earlier than scheduled and turned out to be an excellent decision by Class 3-A West athletic directors to move the regional cross country meet from Thursday to Wednesday in Riverton. The weather was perfect for competition and a pair of Fremont County athletes ran to individual crowns.
Riverton senior Kaden Chatfield ran even with Cody’s Charlie Hulbert and Paul Baxter of Evanston for most of the race but a blistering long-distance, 800-meter kick by Chatfield let him pull away for an 11-second win over Hulbert in second place.
Lander’s Ameya Eddy didn’t let the competition get that close. She took the lead early in the race and steadily pulled away from the field, ending with an amazing 31-second lead over Cody’s Hailie Schram 19:42.66 to 20:13.06.
As Eddy crossed the finish line, there were no other runners on the 180-meter approach down the final chute.
Lander’s Diego Lobatos was fourth and Riverton’s Alexander Truax eighth.
Kiana Swann was the highest Lady Wolverine, finishing just out of the top 10 with an 11th-place time.
The Class 3-A girls’ regional title went to Cody with a narrow 41 to 52 edging of Park County rival Powell. Lander finished fifth and Riverton seventh.
The course at the Riverton Rendezvous Site is considered a bit slow with sections of sand to run through but the teams from Cody to Evanston were pleased to run in dry conditions rather than in the deluge that descended on Fremont County soon after the meet ended
Evanston placed three runners in the top 10 and took the team crown with 39 points. Cody and Riverton battled for second and third with the Broncs edging the Wolverines 63 to 67. Lander was fourth.
Riverton head coach Tawn Gopp was honored as the Class 3-A West “Coach of the Year.”
The state meet is next weekend in Cheyenne, hosted by Cheyenne South High School.
West 3-A Regional – h/t Randy Tucker
Class 3-A West Regional Cross Country Championship
Girls Team Scores: 1. Cody 41, 2. Powell 52, 3. Evanston 71, 4. Green River 126, 5. Lander 132. 6. Lyman 153, 7. Riverton 174, 8. Mountain View 192
Girls Top 10: 1. Ameya Eddy, LAN 19:42.66, 2. Hailie Schramm, COD 20:13.06, 3. Lillie Kirkham, COD 20:23.82, 4. Kinley Cooley, POW 20:27.48, 5. Kenna Jacobsen, POW, 20:27.78, 6. Karee Cooley, POW, 20:34.70, 7. Jocelyn Capener, EVN 20:42.13, 9. Keira Jackson, COD 20.42.64, 10. M Murdock, GR 20:43.46
Riverton Runners: 11. Kiana Swann 20:44.51, 47. Alexis Whiteplume 23:26.05, 53. Janeisa Whiteplume 23:57.69, 56. Ashlynn Tracy 24:30.84, 58. Samantha Krantz 24:61.53, 53. Whitney Wright 25:14.73, 67. Maddux Wildcat 26:21.04, 69. Isabel Resendiz-Horton 26:58.45, 71. Ke’Lee Brost 27:24.25
Lander Runners: 1. Ameya Eddy 19:42.66, 24. Blue Blackburn 21:43.02, 28. Twyla Beason 21:53.78, 49. Jordan Nielsen 23:37.59, 50. Alandra French 23:42.74, 59. Salisha Carusona 24:55.18, 66. Magdalena Lasnoski 26:12.32
Boys Team Scores: 1. Evanston 39, 2. Cody 63, 3. Riverton 67, 4. Lander 98, 5. Mountain View 100, 6. Powell 165, 7. Lyman 185, 8. 219
Boys Top 10: 1. Kaden Chatfield, RIV 16:14.56, 2. Charlie Hulbert, COD 16:25.16, 3. Paul Baxter, EVN 16:37.77, 4. Diego Lobatos, LAN 16:49.92, 5. Bryan Baxter, EVN 17:00.07, 6. Benjamin Stewart, COD 17:20.27, 7. Aidan Conrad, EVN 17:24.94, 8. Alexander Truax, RIV 17:26.51, 9. Liam Taylor, POW 17:27.41, 10. Val Payne, COD 17:32.19
Riverton Runners: 1. Kaden Chatfield 16:14.56, 8. Alexander Truax 17:26.51, 15. Davian Spoonhunter 17:59.69, 21. Kyler Heil 18:25.60, 22. Marshall Walton 18:25.80, 45. Zander Hinkley 19:35.34, 50. Carlos Shaw 19:58.98, 60. River Whiteplume 20:36.1, 66. Weston McLaughlin 21:06.32, 68. Frankie Strickland 21:08.14, 71. Eliot Tate 21:48.77, 75. Stetson Wagen 22:05.96, 77. Chris White 22:24.15, 80. Sean Fraser 22:54.46, 82. Jensen Wright 23:08.84, 86. Issac Gard 26:02.58, 88. David Black 28:09.57
Lander Runners: 4. Diego Lobatos 16:49.91, 18. Reed McFadden 18:18.92, 23. Aquinas Lasnoski 18:26.94, 24. Logan Milek 18:28.03, 30. Mack White 18:47.38, 39. Micah Morgan 19: 14.85, 47. Logan Heller 19:38.00, 54. Noah Ring 20:13.01, 61. Ray Gribowskas 20:39.06, 67. Brooks Even 21:07.47, 76. Thomas ales 22:15.83, 85. Pablo Rangsitch 23:25.58