Boys State Cross Country Meet Caps Competitive Season
The Boys Cross Country season came to a close on Saturday at Wyoming Indian High School in Ethete with a challenging course and no shortage of enthusiasm. In 4A boys, Mason Wheeler of Jackson took the podium in 16.10.45. Wheeler took 2nd place at the State Nordic Ski Championships and placed 2nd in the 4A 3200 meters at the State Track meet back in May. Wheeler took the bronze medal at the 2020 State Cross Country Meet. Jacob Frenthaway from Cheyenne Central was 2nd and he made a huge improvement from a year ago when he placed 28th. Sheridan's Austin Akers was 3rd this year, 5th a year ago. Charles Fossey of Rock Springs has back-to-back 4th place finishes and Braik Hurm of Campbell County took 5th. Cheyenne Central won the team championship with 4 guys in the top 10
In 3A. Owen Burnett who attends and runs track for Kemmerer but competed in cross country for Mountain View blistered the field by over half a minute to win the state championship. His winning time was 16.1647 and he placed 7th in the cross country state championships in 2020 and took 2nd in the 2A 3200 meter run at the State Track Meet. Tanner Erickson of Mountain View was 2nd after a 10th place finish last season. and that 1-2 finish helped the Buffaloes win the 3A team championship. Camryn Spence was 3rd and he took 5th a year ago. Star Valley freshman Habtamu Wetzel was 4th and Riverton's Kaden Chatfield took 5th.
In 2A, Grant Bartlett of Saratoga made some history as he won the state title for the 3rd consecutive year with a time of 17.01.83. Grady Bartlett of Saratoga finished 2nd for the 2nd straight year and Wyatt Osler of Tongue River took 3rd for the 2nd straight year. All Spotted of Tongue River was 4th after a 5th place finish last season with John Halvorsen of Glenrock taking 5th placing 7th a year ago. The team championship was closely contested with Saratoga and Rocky Mountain tied with 30 points. It went down to the 5th place runner from each team with Rocky placing 21st and Saratoga 32nd. Rocky Mountain by the way had 4 runners in the top 9.
We have some video of the boy's races on Saturday at Wyoming Indian High School and more than a few super pics from Shannon Dutcher. Enjoy!