Cross Country Action - Week 1 and Week 2
Author: Staff Sports Writer
Cross Country Action - Week 1 and Week 2
Staff Sports Writer
The Broadwater Cross Country team began their 2023 season on Saturday, August 26th as a homecoming for Coach Brooke Dolan at the Jefferson Opener in Boulder.
The Bulldogs have kicked off their last few seasons at Coach Dolan’s alma mater, whereby the athletes join in the “Hoofer’s Call” before the races begin.
As always, the athletes start with a walk-through of the entire 5-kilometer course (that is 3.1 miles for the nonmetric users), which in Boulder is a one-loop trek starting through town, uphill along the highway skirting to the frontage road before taking a dirt two-track around the cemetery, reentering town and finally finishing at Veteran’s Park. It is a tough route with plenty of hills and various running surfaces; certainly, a challenge for the first meet of the season!
The Junior Varsity men and women took to the course first along with six other schools: Helena Capital, Ennis, Three Forks, Whitehall, Harrison, and the host Jefferson Panthers. Senior Melania Lambott, returning to Cross Country for the first time since middle school finished in 30:13 and placed 21st among the ladies. Freshman Fiona Nelson clocked in at 35:52, placing 26th. The Junior Varsity Men placed 3rd as a team with a score of 63 led by Junior Kaden Bruins placing 9th with a time of 22:48 and Sophomore Gavin Green not far behind him in 11th place at 23:03. Freshman Luke Tullos timed in at 27:59 in 18th with Sophomores Wyatt Coker in 20th (28:49) and Keaton Cavasos in 22nd (29:43) rounding out the five-man team.
Next up on the course were the Varsity Ladies. Freshman Kyla Meissner crossed the line first in her first-ever 5K race with a time of 21:17. Junior Kaelyn Sangray placed 6th at 23:08, faster than last year’s Jefferson Opener by 1 minute and 9 seconds. Also improving from the 2022 Opener was Junior Scarlett McDaniel in 15th place at 27:35, which is 1:10 quicker.
The fastest race of the day was the Men’s Varsity. Junior Nolan Flynn placed 6th in a blistering time of 19:02, which is over two minutes faster than he ran this race as a freshman! Seniors Aidan Easter (20:29) and Connor Lamb (21:08) came in at 16th and 21st respectively; Aidan also improved by over a minute from last year’s race. Junior Ross MacDonald rounded out the Bulldog men in 26th with a time of 23:19.
The Belgrade XC Invitational on Friday, September 1st was the Bulldog's second stop of the season. The 5K course is a true scenic course with two and a half loops around the trails of Gallatin County Regional Park including a steep hill the runners must traverse twice.
The Junior Varsity and Varsity runners were on the course simultaneously with no cap on the number of runners. For those not familiar with Cross Country, each Varsity team can have up to 7 runners, with the top 5 athletes combining for the team scores. Their score corresponds to their finishing place, with the team receiving the lowest score winning. The sixth and seventh runners on a team, although they do not receive a score, can also be important, in that they can “displace” scoring runners from the other teams.
The ladies were up first on a hot day with a late morning starting time, persevering with a team score placing them 7th out of 17 teams (6AA, 3A, 4B & 4C). Kyla Meissner came in 5th place with a time of 21:29, followed by Kaelyn Sangray (23:13) in 26th, improving her time at the same course last year by 1 minute and 47 seconds. Juniors Abby Wickens (24:47) and Grace Kroeger (32:22) ran their first race of the season placing 46th and 96th respectively. Rounding out the female runners were Scarlett McDaniel (26:46) in 62nd, improving her course record by almost a minute, and Melania Lambott (31:12) in 93rd.
The men were up next with Nolan Flynn leading the way in 34th place with a time of 19:22, an improvement of 22 seconds from last year’s time. Connor Lamb (21:23) in 72nd, Aidan Easter (22:17, which is a course improvement of 1:40) in 88th, Kaden Bruins (22:25) in 92nd, and Ross MacDonald (22:43) in 100th compiled the Varsity score landing them as a team in 10th place with a team split of 3:21. Freshman Ryan Hoveland ran his first race of high school in 23:08 placing 109th. Rounding out the men’s runners were Wyatt Coker (28:04), Luke Tullos (28:17), and Keaton Cavasos (30:26, improving by 3:33 from 2022).
The middle school team had their first meet of the season at the Belgrade XC Invitational but their times and places were not yet available.
The Bulldogs will run next on Saturday, September 9th at the Bozeman XC Invite located at Bridger Creek Golf Course. Always a gorgeous venue with stiff competition from all over the region including 40 teams from all classes and Wyoming.
