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 5th, 7th and 14th.
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 20th while the junior varsity girls teams won 3rd and 14th.
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.
