Whitehorse cross country girls finish third, boys eighth in Chicken Creek Challenge

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Whitehorse High School cross country team traveled to Mancos, CO on Saturday, October 18 to compete in the annual Chicken Creek Challenge.
It was a cool day with muddy track conditions, but the Raider runners battled hard and produced some solid performances on the 5,000 meter course.
The Raider boys scored 113 points to finish in eighth place in the team standings. The team was paced by senior Ethan Begay who finished 15th overall, crossing the line in 20 minutes, 22 seconds.
Fellow senior Elam Etsitty took 26th overall with a run of 21:09.2. Sophomore Hyatt Thomas was 36th overall with his 23:09.7 effort. Freshman Tyler Duane rounded out the team scoring for Whitehorse with a 51st-place finish in 27:18.5.
Other runners finishing the race for the Raiders included senior Brayden John in 55th place with his run of 29:31.8 and junior Brayden Kinsel in 56th with a 30:12.7.
With five runners finishing in the top ten, the Ridgway girls were just about unbeatable. But the Whitehorse Lady Raiders put on a good show themselves with three girls in the top 18 and a third-place team result.
Sophomore Maria Yellowman paced the team in 13th place overall with a 24:49.5. Fellow sophomore Laylah Benally crossed the line in 17th with her run of 25:45.3.
Senior Hannah Clark was just under 18 seconds behind Benally in 18th place overall. Freshman Mikey Little rounded out the Lady Raiders’ team scoring with a 26th-place result in 29:45.4
Sophomore Brandilyn John also finished the race for the Whitehorse girls. She was 33rd overall when she completed the 5,000 meter course in 31:43.2.
The Whitehorse cross country teams will begin the postseason this week with a trip to Monticello on Thursday, October 16 for the Region 19 Championship.
The 2025 1A Utah State Cross Country State Meet is coming up October 28-29 at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City.