Bronco cross country previews their region course, Lyman is star of week

The San Juan High School cross country team had a golden opportunity to preview the region course and region competition this past Wednesday, September 17 as they competed in the Kanab Invitational.

Out of Region 19 teams, only Beaver was absent from the race. The course, located on a golf course in Mt. Carmel, UT, featured rolling hills and a slightly longer distance.

Although the runners faced a five-hour bus ride beforehand, both teams performed exceptionally well and garnered multiple top-ten individual finishes in each race and impressive team finishes.

In the boys race, Edward Lyman took a commanding early lead early, and continued to lengthen the distance between he and his competitors throughout the next three miles.

Lyman pulled out a spectacular first-place finish, beating his next competitor by almost 20 seconds. His incredible race caught the eyes of the Deseret News who named him their Star Athlete of the Week in boys cross country.

Two other San Juan athletes also pulled out top-ten finishes with strong performances of their own: Spencer Jensen finished in seventh and Ryan McCullough got eighth.

McCullough was followed by Abe Lyman (13th), Daniel Jolley (16th), Toby Ward (17th), and Logan Keith (22nd). As a team, the boys finished in first for the third time this season, beating Enterprise by over 16 points.

In the girls race, Ella Lyman led the team with a third-place overall finish. She was joined in the top ten by Saylor Perkins who finished in eighth. Close behind were Caroline Crippen in 14th and Sofie Hook in 15th.

Rounding out the varsity runners for the girls were Taryn Nielson in 23rd, Nadia Armajo in 26th, and Megan Black in 31st. The girls’ team performance narrowly edged out Enterprise for second place.

Next up for the Broncos is their home race, the John Thornton Invitational, this Wednesday, September 22. The course follows Pacheco Trail and starts and finishes behind the Blanding Visitors Center. The boys race begins at 4 p.m. and the girls race begins shortly after.