Lyman captures Region 19 XC title

by Jessica Walker
Contributing Writer
This story was inadvertently ommitted from the October 26 issue.
Region cross country is an exciting time for athletes who have put in months of hard work. Every runner hopes a great performance and hard work will combine to earn a trip, individually and as a team, to the biggest meet of the year – the State Championships.
Having raced at the Thunderbird Golf Course in Mt. Carmel Junction, UT just two weeks prior to the Region 19 Championship on Wednesday, October 19, the San Juan team was prepared to take on the course.
This time however, the course was soggy. Water pooled in low spots and slick conditions abounded. The course, consisting of three loops, was primarily grass with small sections on dirt trail with rolling hills.
The competition was stiff with just nine points separating the third-place boys team (San Juan) from the region champions (Kanab). Leading the Broncos to a state-qualifying team finish with a spectacular individual effort was Edward Lyman.
Lyman led the race for the first lap before strategically tucking behind Kanab’s Trey Castagno to hold second. On the last lap, Lyman pulled away from his Kanab opponent to take a decisive lead and win the race.
Lyman is individually ranked in the top ten in the 2A state rankings and has a good chance of medaling at the state meet.
Abe Lyman also ran a skilled race. He started in tenth and consistently gained on his opponents to ultimately finish fifth despite two falls on the slick grass.
Toby Ward, Ryan McCullough, Noah Begay, and Austin Pincock ran in a tight pack to finish within 20 seconds of each other. Ward took 15th, McCullough took 18th, Begay took 20th, and Pincock took 21st.
Next in line for San Juan were Rosendo Martine and Logan Keith. Both runners have been battling illness but managed to push through to finish 27th and 38th.
Preceding the varsity race, the JV boys displayed the Broncos’ strength and depth. In spectacular races, Tatum Begay captured a region championship in 20:10 with Dakota Long a few steps behind with a strong second-place finish in 20:12.
The girls varsity team combined to earn fifth place, which unfortunately did not qualify them as a team for the state meet.
A tight pack of three girls led the team, two seniors competing in the last race of their high school careers and one freshman finishing her first of hopefully many seasons. Only four seconds separated the girls.
Senior Leah Castellon led the pack to finish 16th with freshman Brinley Jones and senior Saylor Perkins following in 17th and 18th. Jones and Perkins were separated by only eight-tenths of a second.
Olivia Weeks and Rose Kartchner followed the trio and placed 23rd and 28th. Both Weeks and Kartchner improved on their previous times at the Thunderbird Golf Course by more than two minutes.
Taryn Nielson was next to come in and did so with a 33rd-place finish. Megan Black and Jessie Black rounded out the varsity team’s performance with 37th- and 38th-place finishes.