The Guthrie High School cross country programs got a good feel of where they stand among their peers in Class 5A following the Edmond Pre-State Cross Country Meet at Edmond Santa Fe.
The goal was not only to get a feel of Saturday’s course but also to go up with some of the best in their class.
The State Cross Country Meet will take place on Oct. 29 on the same course. After Saturday’s races, both Guthrie teams have the times to return to the biggest run of the season.
Both Guthrie teams took third place with six runners placing in the top 20 with several of the runners taking in a personal best.
“When every single person on the team runs a personal best or a seasonal best time, you’re doing something right,” first-year head coach Bryce Balenseifen said. “The guys and gals are starting to believe in the vision.”
Piedmont, now the largest school in Class 5A, is the clear favorite to win it all in both the girls’ and boys’ competitions come late October and showed that by taking distant team titles.
In the girl’s race, Piedmont finished with a team-low 30 points followed by Noble (98) and Guthrie (121).
For the boys, Piedmont collected 36 team points. Next were Guymon (81) and Guthrie (139).
In the girls’ competition that saw 111 runners participate, junior Kamryn Boller finished fifth overall with a 20:21.98 run in the 5k race. Fellow junior Hannah Smith took 15th place with a race time of 21:42.18. Just behind her was sophomore Raley Hooper taking 18th overall and sophomore Peyton Read finishing 21st.
Also finishing the race for the Lady Jays was junior Cameron Ireton, freshmen Kristie Botello and Gracie Ball.
With Noble’s great performance, the Lady Jays will now work on moving up the ladder.
With 122 runners, the Bluejays finished with two in the top 10.
Junior Mason Mayer and senior Lance Sallee ran within eight seconds of each other and finished seventh and eighth overall, respectively. Mayer ran a 16:51.20 and Sallee a 16:59.28.
Rounding out the scoring were Tyler Waggoner (34th), junior Beckett Terry (38th), and sophomore Riley Wilkerson (53rd). Freshmen Isaiah Blevins and junior Eli Fortney finished the race for the Jays.
“The boys were right where I expected them to be team-wise,” Balenseifen said. “Lots of the guys ran at or above where I thought they would. We had a No. 2 (Sallee) who made a huge jump and that’ll be big for state.”
The coach added there were a few gaps between runners but believes with some time and work the gap will draw much shorter.
Next up is a trip to Owasso on Sept. 30.
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