Hot, dusty, and crowded with competitors. The annual Berry Bryant/Kyle Johnson Memorial Cross Country meet had 568 runners competing in six divisions over the course of a long Thursday of Competition.
The event began with 128 middle school girls, followed by 144 middle school boys, and then 296 high school runners divided into junior varsity girls and boys, and finally the varsity girls and boys under a blazing afternoon sun under clear blue skies at the Riverton Rendezvous Site.
The Riverton boys and Lander girls finished in fourth place in their respective divisions, each paced by a third-place finish from Ameya Eddy for the Tiger girls, and Kaden Chatfield for the Riverton boys.
Coy edged Worland for the boys’ title and Cody also won the girls’ crown with Powel a close second.
Charlie Hulbert of Cody won the boy’s race while Kenna Jackson of Powell took the girl’s crown easily with a 12-second lead over second place Mersades Jackson of Jackson.
The conditions under full sun, with no wind, had many coaches, parents, and friends spraying the runners with water as they passed to cool them off.
The meet is held each year in memory of two outstanding Riverton cross-country runners who were both killed in criminal acts.
Berry Bryant was a sophomore on the Northwest College cross-country team in Powell when she was murdered in October 1996 by a fellow student.
On September 16, 2001, Kyle Johnson and seven of his fellow University of Wyoming cross-country teammates were killed in a head on crash with a drunk driver between Laramie and Ft. Collins. Known as the “Wyoming 8” it remains the worst two-car vehicle crash in the state’s history. Along with Johnson, who was only 20 years old, Justin Lambert-Belanger, 20, of Timmins, Ontario; Cody Brown, 21, of Hudson, Colorado, Joshua Jones, 22, of Salem, Oregon, Morgan McLeland, 21, of Gillette; Kevin Salverson, 19, from Cheyenne, Nicholas Schabron, 20, of Laramie; and Shane Shatto, 19, from Douglas.
Boys Team Scores: 1. Cody 60, 2. Worland 68, 3. Kelly Walsh 78, 4. Riverton 107, 5. Thunder Basin 119, 6. Burlington 150, 7. Lander 152, 8. Rawlins 189, 9. Powell 197
Boys Top 10: 1. Charlie Hulbert, COD 16:09.28, 2. Trajn Swalstad, WOR 16:23.82, 3.Kaden Chatfield, RIV 17:16.80, 4. Benjamin Stewart, COD 17:21.19, 5. Diego Lobatos, LAN 17:28.06, 6. Micah Colling, KW, 17:31.11, 7. Patrick Hardesty, TB 17:33.92, 8. Howard McNiven, BUR 17:45.11, 9. Tage Longhurst, KW 17:46.66, 10. Alex Louria, KW 17:53.67
Riverton: Kaden Chatfield, 17:16.80, Davian Spoonhunter 18:16.56, Marshall Walton 18:22.40, Kyler Heil 18:44.01, Alexander Truax 19:40.00, Carlos Shaw 20:46.41, Rivert Whiteplume 21:18.03
Riverton Runners – h/t Randy Tucker
Lander: Diego Lobatos, 17:28.06, Aquinas Lasnoski, 19:16.87, Mack White 19:20.93, Reed McFadden 19:33.36, Micah Morgan 19:37.65, Noah Ring 20:17.02, Ray Gribowskas 21:33.71
Wyoming Indian: Heeyei Niitou Monroe-Black 19:51.11, Colton SunRhodes 20:17.34, Marley C’Hair 21:41.33, Caleb Addison 22:39.87
Wyoming Indian Boys and Girls
Girls Team Scores: 1. Cody 39, 2. Powell 43, 3. Kelly Walsh 64, 4. Lander 107, 5. Thunder Basin 109. 6. Wyoming Indian 165
Girls Top 10: 1.Kenna Jacobsen, POW 21:09.73, 2. Mersades Jackson, COD 21:21.45, 3.Ameya Eddy, LAN 21:23.16, 4. Keira Jackson, COD 21:26.52, 5. Maya Rodriguez, KW 21:34.03, 6. Karee Cooley, POW 21:49.44, 7. Lexi Longhurst, KW 21:49.63, 8. Mallory Jones, TB 21:57.50, 9. Megan Doherty, TB 21:57.77, 10. Bethany Strand, KW 22:01.00
Riverton: Kiana Swann 22:25.61, Samantha Krantz 25:48.32, Janeisa Whiteplume 27:41.82
Lander Boys and Girls – h/t Randy Tucker
Lander: Ameya Eddy 21:23.16, Blue Blackburn 22:53.77, Alandra French 23:35.27, Twyla Beason 24:44.58, Magdalena Lasnoski 26:08.64
Wyoming Indian: Shye Killsontop 24:50.90, Dai’Onna Posey 25:09.24, Roberta Whiteplume 25:54.14, Camellia Brown 26:46.67, Taline Tendore 27:13.96
Wind River: Faye Hellyer, 25:04.59
Faye Hellyer and Georgeann Moss – h/t Randy Tucker
St. Stephen’s: Goergeanne Moss 29:14.07