Good start for Bronco X Country

The San Juan High School Cross Country teams ran exceptionally well at the 8th annual Red Rock Invitational held in Moab on August 23. 

Grand County High School hosted a challenging yet beautiful meet at the Moab Golf Course, where the lady Broncos took home first place team trophies in the varsity and junior varsity races while the JV boys took 3rd place overall.

Led by sophomore Katie Hiatt (third place in 23:04), senior Danielle Wilson (fourth place in 23:26) and freshman, Brielle Francom (24:10), San Juan out-paced teams from Monument Valley, Whitehorse, Carbon, Monticello and Grand County.  

Veteran runners Michelle Keith (26:24) and Heather Palmer (26:35) were joined by newcomer freshmen Rylee Lyman (25:44) and Makenzie Ward (28:04) to secure the top place team trophy. 

The JV girls team also brought home a first place trophy, with the top-notch efforts of junior Robin Jones (26:17) and freshman Kelli Meyer (27:23).  Also running for the Lady Broncos this year are seniors Kimber Mitchell, Jeannie Kirk, Jessica Bradford; junior Jessica Bergeman; sophomore Tya Manygoats; and freshmen Sam Bergeman, Abby Hatcher, Audrey Lutrell and Raylynn Jones.

On the boys’ side, sophomore Taylor Francom performed spectacularly, winning by an “Olympic lean” at the finish line over Monticello’s Adam Butler.  Both young men ran head to head during the last mile, jockeying for position within just five feet of each other throughout the last portion of the 5K.  Their finishing time was 17:45. 

Third place overall individual finisher is freshman Jade Grover (19:54), followed by seniors Michael Flavel (22:46), Kyson Shumway (24:45) , Devon Howe (23:50) and David Webb (26:11).  The hard work of Ryan Gardner, Andrew Redd, Hans Hurst, Evan Black, Lane Palmer and Talon Kartchner earned a third place team trophy for the Broncos JV cross-country team.

The Broncos’ next Region XC competition will be held on Wednesday, September 3 at South Sevier High School at 4 pm.