Lander Middle School’s cross country teams wrapped up their season over the weekend at the Yellowstone Conference Championships in Powell. The course was 2-miles in length, looping around the Powell Golf Club.
Lander’s girls finished 2nd at the final race, falling to Cody. This was only the second time this season that Lander hadn’t won the meet overall, both times finishing second to Cody.
The girls were led by 8th grader Delaney Sullivan who finished the year taking first in all seven competitions. She beat the nearest competition by over one minute in many meets, but got a challenge from Thermopolis’ Dazlynn Hunt at the conference championship. Ultimately, Sullivan won by 22 seconds.
LMS Head Coach Misty Atnip said, “Delaney has amazing grit. She works hard in practice and is driven to be the best.”
Other top finishers for the Lander girls included Allie Atnip (7th grade), Maria Anderson (8th grade), Ani Wilmot (7th grade), and Marlee Jones (8th grade.)
The Lander boys finished in the top three of their respective races for the majority of the season. They were led individually by Reed McFadden (7th grade), Josh Hacking (8th grade), Finn Richards (6th grade), and Gage Hampton (6th grade.)
Lander had a total of 65 runners on their teams this season, which according to Coach Atnip, was the most of any team that Lander competed against this year, in fact, it often doubled the number of runners their opponents had.
Coach Atnip said she is, “very proud of how hard the kids worked throughout the season. Great progress was made and the team will be ready to take on Cody next year.”
