Both Monticello cross country teams finish on podium at state
It’s tradition at Monticello High School for the mothers of the runners to decorate the bus for the state trip. This year there were several motivational quotes.
One stuck out to the teams more than the rest. “Fear has two meanings: forget everything and run or face everything and rise.”
Both Buckaroo teams went to the state meet as underdogs but had good chances of high individual and team placements. State was a chance to run and rise!
The 2021 Utah State Meet was at the Regional Athletic Complex at Rose Park in Salt Lake City. It’s a very flat course with just seven feet of elevation gain, entirely on grass.
The 1A girls were the fifth race of the day with 17 teams represented in the race. Panguitch took an early lead and the top three runners were set through the entirety of the race.
Panguitch runners were first and second place. Lily Long was the first senior and first Buckaroo to cross the finish line taking third with a time of 20:40.
Bryce Valley’s first runner finished fourth. Buckaroo Lilli Burton shook off a Wayne County runner in the last 200 yards to grab fifth. She is the first freshman to cross the line in the 1A race.
Marah Long and Ayla Carling have had a healthy competition throughout the season and ran the race side by side, finishing within ten seconds. Long was 20th, Carling 21st, and Alexis Bailey 42nd.
The boys race began 30 minutes after the girls with 106 runners on the starting line. Boston Freestone started out strong in 11th place and steadily picked off a couple runners to finish ninth with a time of 17:54.
Jesse Pettit was the second Buckaroo to cross the line, in 16th.
Kaden Pehrson and Curtis Bunker consistently raced close to each other the whole season and it was the same at state. Pehrson came in 25th place and Bunker right behind in 26th. Josh Wheeler was the fifth Buck across the line in 31st. Easton Young was 54th and Jacob Johnson was 61st.
Both Monticello Buckaroo teams finished in third place – pretty impressive for the young runners. Freestone and Long are the only seniors this season, so it will be fun to see how the teams progress over the next few years.