Wyoming HS Cross Country Spotlight: Kaleb Simonson

Off to an impressive start for his junior cross country season, Lander’s Kaleb Simonson looks to be a contender for the Class 3A boys crown in 2019.

Simonson finished seventh at the state meet last year as a sophomore. He was about 37 seconds behind the winner, Peter Visser of Star Valley.

Now in this new season, Simonson already has a pair of wins, a runner-up, and a third-place showing at the recent Wyoming State Preview Meet (Sept. 14). He won the Kelly Walsh Bear Trap Meet on Casper Mountain (Aug. 30) and the Chief Nation Invitational (Sept. 7). The second-place performance was at last week’s home Lander Invitational.

WyoPreps’ David Settle had a phone conversation with Kaleb and his coach Kevin Green from Lander Valley High School. Kaleb talked about the start to his year, what he’s been focused on and what he needs to do moving forward towards the state meet next month. Coach Green was asked about Kaleb’s development, what he’s working on with Kaleb in training, plus the outlook for his squads and Class 3A at the state cross country championships in Afton, WY next month. Those conversations are part of the audio-video above.

Simonson has already topped his state time from a year ago. His season-best time is 16:25.90.

In 2018, Lander Valley was third in the Class 3A team standings at state, now the Tigers seek an improved finish with Simonson leading the way. Wyoming Milesplit has Lander atop the 3A boys’ rankings.