Top ten finishes for San Juan cross country teams in season finale meet

Filled with nerves as they prepared to run the biggest race of the season, the Bronco harriers descended on the course at the Rose Park Athletic Complex.

The 5K course was physically one of the easiest of the season. It’s a fairly flat grass course, but against so much competition the mental pressure loomed large.

Each team provided excellent showings as they fought their way to the finish.

On the boys side, Edward Lyman edged his way into tenth place, passing two of his competitors with an amazing sprint in the final 100 meters.

He crossed the line with a time of 17:25. Lyman was followed by Toby Ward, who in a breakout performance of his own, ran a personal best with a time of 18:39. Ward’s performance gave him a 30th place finish.

Only one second behind Ward with a time of 18:40 and a 31st-place finish was Abe Lyman. Following Lyman was Logan Keith who finished with a time of 18:59. Keith’s time was nearly a minute faster than his previous personal best and earned him 39th place.

Following Keith were two runners. Daniel Jolley led the way in 19:04 with his 42nd-place finish.

He was followed by Spencer Jensen in 46th who finished with a time of 19:09.

Both seniors and strong varsity contributors, Jolley and Jensen, will be missed next year.

Rounding out the runners for the boys team was Ryan McCullough, finishing in 50th place with a time of 19:26.

The boys individual performances gave San Juan a fifth-place team finish and a second-place finish among region teams.

On the girls side, leading her team to a seventh-place finish in the last cross country race of her high school career was senior Ella Lyman. She crossed the finish line in 20th place with a time of 22:44.

Lyman was followed by Dinebahh Eddie. In only her second race of the season, Eddie took 41st with a strong performance and a time of 24:34.

Caroline Crippen was the next Bronco to finish. Crippen, a senior, has seen steady improvement through the season along with a slew of personal bests.

This race was no exception, and for the fifth time in a row she set a personal best time when she crossed the finish line in 24:49 with a 44th-place finish.

Next came senior Sofie Hook. Hook has been a pillar of the team the last four years, providing much needed leadership and speed. She finished in 50th with a time of 25:22.

Battling through injury with a solid performance, Saylor Perkins followed Hook. Perkins finished in 59th with a time of 27:25 and was followed by Taryn Nielson who set a personal best with her time of 28:29 in 66th.

Rounding out the varsity runners was Megan Black with a great performance that also beat her personal best time. Black took 70th place and finished in 29:43.

Because of their performance in the classroom two girls were honored with Academic All-State Awards. Sofie Hook and Caroline Crippen were among only ten other females in the 2A division that were given this prestigious honor.

Congratulations to everyone who competed in the 2021 state meet! We look forward to seeing your performances next year.

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