Cross country runners on course for success

The girls cross country team finished in first place at the Canyon Invitational Oct. 8.  The team was led by junior Arin Rice in first, sophomore Karah Diaz in second, sophomore Courtney Karr in fourth, senior C.J. Frizzell in fifth and sophomore Thea Coffman in eighth.

The girls also finished in first place in the Lubbock Invitational Sept. 24, defeating the competition they will face at regionals.

With the Canyon Invitational being a good indicator for the district meet Oct. 28 and the Lubbock Invitational being a prediction for Regionals on Nov. 5, the girls cross country team is optimistic as they prepare.

“I feel pretty confident that our girls are going to perform well at district,” girls cross country coach Ray Baca said. “The next two weeks after district will be mainly focused on competing at state.”

The boys’ varsity cross country team came in second place in the Canyon Invitational Oct. 8. Junior Mesa Allison led the boys with a time of 16:06 for the 5k, followed by sophomore Kole Bryan, junior Keevan Coffman, junior Cody Lane and junior Austin Moore finishing up Canyon’s top five runners with 87 points.

The varsity boys also finished sixth place in the Lubbock Invitational Sept. 24.

“Even though we came in sixth, I think we still have a chance to be in the top three at Regionals,” boys cross country coach Wes Kirton said. 

The JV boys were second to Tascosa by a score of 28 to 37 in the Canyon Invitational and were led by senior Cory Fenton, freshman Christian Cobb and freshman Jacob Wilhelm finishing fourth, sixth, and seventh. Junior Cole McCrary and freshman Trevor Fleeman were 16^th and 17^th.

Boys cross country finishes second at WTAMU

The varsity boys cross country team finished in second place at West Texas A&M Saturday.

Junior Mesa Allison led the team, finishing in first. Junior Keevan Coffman finished in eighth, sophomore Kole Bryan finished 16^th, sophomore James Ray finished 31^st, junior Austin Moore finished 52^nd, and senior Cory Fenton finished 64^th.

The JV boys cross country team finished in third place behind Frenship and Lubbock Coronado.

Junior Collin Backus finished sixth, followed by freshman Christian Cobb 10^th, freshman Jacob Wilhelm 24^th, junior Cole McCrary 29^th, freshman Lucas McCrary 41^st and sophomore Nick Davidson 56^th.

The boys will compete at the district meet Oct. 28 at West Texas A&M.

Canyon cross country competes at 6 mile relay

The cross country teams competed in the Canyon 6 Mile Relay at the WT Horse Center Friday, Aug. 26 with both girls and boys bringing home top ten placings and high expectations for the upcoming season.

The Canyon 6 Mile relay is a shorter meet then most with teams of four individuals running 1.5 miles each. Because of its shorter distance, this meet gives the runners a chance to see how fast they can go and where they need to improve while also having fun.

While some members of the teams ran in August in a benefit run, the Canyon 6 Mile was the first meet of the season to pit Canyon runners against runners from other schools.

Boys coach Wes Kirton chose to balance his teams by placing members with a wide range of strengths on each team.

“This meet is really good for team bonding because everyone gets to fight together,” Kirton said.

The varsity boys relay team with members Mesa Allison, Keevin Coffman, Austin Moore and Christian Cobb came in third while the other varsity team crossed the finish in fifth place. The three junior varsity teams took 5^th, 7^th and 14^th.

Girls coach Ray Baca used a different strategy, choosing four runners, C J Frizzel, Courtney Karr, Karah Diaz and Arin Rice, who ran to a first place finish for their team. The second varsity team earned 20^th while the junior varsity girls teams won 3^rd and 14^th.

Baca said he uses the first meet of the season to gauge how well the team is doing and was pleased with the outcome resulting from summer workouts.

“Our kids worked as hard this summer as any kids I’ve ever had,” Baca said.

The next cross country meet is Thursday in Burkburnett.

Boys cross country No. 11 in state

The boys cross country team placed 11th at the UIL State Meet in Round Rock, Texas, Nov. 13.

Sophomore Mesa Allison led the team placing 34 with a time of 16:32.  Senior Jared Beatty followed Allison to the placing 44 with a time of 16:43.

Senior Austin O’Brien and sophomore Keevan Coffman came in next. O’Brien placed 73 with a time of 17:18 beating Coffman, 82 with a time of 17:27.

Senior Keevyn Anderson out ran freshman Nephi Ginnett placing 90 and 91 consecutively.

Cody Lane was the last runner in for the Eagles and placed 96.

Lady Eagles storm regional meet

The Lady Eagles cross country team qualified for the UIL State Cross Country Meet Nov. 13 in Round Rock, Texas.

The girls’ cross country team won the Regional meet w ith Canyon’s own Arin Rice, a sophomore, taking first place with a time of 11:08, outrunning Randall’s Karlee Kleiber by .4 seconds.

Next in was Leslie Brummett, placing ninth with a time of 11:41. Karah Diaz caught up with Brummett but was unable to pass her in the final leg of the race and placed tenth with a time of 11:42.

Courtney Karr and CJ Frizzell were next to come in placing 12 and 13 consecutively. Also, Stephanie Guana,  who placed 24th with a time of 12:08, and Kateland Maddox, 26th with a time of 12:09, helped bring in Canyon’s victory.

 The Lady Eagles had all 7 runners in the top 30 places and took first out of the 24 teams participating in the event.

Canyon cross country takes district

Both boys and girls cross country teams will be advancing to the regional cross country meet in Lubbock Nov. 6 after both teams placed first in the district.

The 5000 meter boys’ race began with Mesa Allison, Jared Beatty, and Austin O’Brien taking the lead for the Canyon runners. Allison battled all the way to the finish line against two Hereford runners but was unable to pass them and placed third with a time of 17:22. Beatty and O’Brien battled back and forth the entire race, fighting to push the other. Beatty was able to pull up ahead and placed eighth with a time of 17:54. O’Brien followed a few seconds behind, placing ninth with a time of 18:00. Other key members were Keevan Coffman, placing 14, shortly followed by Keevyn Anderson, Nephi Ginnett, and Cody Lane who placed 16, 17, and 18 consecutively.

The 3000 meter girls’ race started out with Arin Rice, Courtney Karr, and Karah Diaz taking the lead.  Rice ran against a Randall senior all the way to the finish line, barely losing in the last 20 meters. Rice placed second with Karr and Diaz following shortly behind, placing third and fourth consecutively. The next pack of runners to arrive at the finish line was Leslie Brummet, placing 9, CJ Frizzell, placing 10, and Stephanie Gauna, seconds behind placing 11. Kateland Maddox pulled up the rear placing 16.

Both the boys and girls placed first in the district and have the potential to make the state meet.

Cross country teams to compete at regional meet

Both the boys and girls cross country teams advanced to regionals after intense competition at the 3-4A district meet.

The boys claimed the district championship with a team score of 38.

Senior Will Welling finished first overall with a time of 16:42, senior Josh Backus finished 7^th at 17:17, junior Jared Beatty 10^th at 17:48, junior Jason Ray 11^th at 17:51, freshman Mesa Allison 13^th at 17:56, junior Keevyn Anderson 14^th at 18:00 and senior Lee Alexander 15^th at 18:10.

The boys beat second place Hereford by 11 points.

The girls placed second overall with a team score of 43.

Freshman Arin Rice finished third with a time of 11:55, senior Caitlin Gilmore finished fifth at 12:00, junior Leslie Brummett sixth at 12:17, and sophomore Candace Herreva  finished at fourteenth at 12:48 in the top 15 overall.

Both the girls and boys JV teams placed first in the JV races.

The boys and girls varsity teams will compete Nov. 7 at the Region 1 Championship meet in Lubbock.

Boys cross country team to run at home

The boys cross country team raced Oct. 3 at the Oklahoma State University Cross Country Jamboree in Stillwater OK. The team competed against 4A-5A schools from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Seniors Will Welling and Josh Backus placed first and second overall respectively among the 215 runners, with times of 16:32 and 16:34.  The team finished up with Jared Beatty at 38^th, Jason Ray at 41^st and Mesa Allison at 49^th.  Overall the team placed second with a score of 121 points, losing to Guthrie, OK.

The team next meet will be at Canyon High, Oct. 10 at 8:45 a.m. The boys say they are expecting to improve their times and hope to pull off the first team win of the season.

After the Canyon Invitational, the team will run at WT and then move on to district and beyond.