WHS XCountry improving with each week

WORLAND - In only a few short weeks Worland High School cross-country coach Tanya Kienlen has watched her team make impressive improvements in this early part of the season.

Last week the Warriors and Lady Warriors were in Sheridan for the Michelle Ludwig Memorial Invitational and coach Kienlen loved what she was from her team. "It was a great day to be a Warrior," said coach Kienlen. "Jadon (Swalstad) and Kelli (Holiday) did well and I'm always proud of our lead runners stepping up. Overall though watching the continuous improvement from the second, third, fourth and fifth runners is incredible."

"Like this week Porter Harman really stepped it up. Freshman Caleb Fraser, who ran his first race in JV, came out of nowhere with a strong starting time. Another freshman, Tatum Zimmerman, ran in her first varsity race and posted a good starting point. It is amazing having these runners pick up the pace, it's only going to make us a stronger team," said Kienlen.

WHS will be back in Sheridan on Oct. 22 for the State Championship. Getting an early look at the state course was a tremendous boost for the team and coach Kienlen liked how her team responded. "With the experience, our new runners can now visualize and prepare for the course. For our experienced runners, they were able to implement our strategies to already enhance their race, like for some they know their weakness is mile two and for others they needed a stronger finish. So it was a great chance for everybody to implement something new or be exposed to the course," said coach Kienlen.

With summer turning into fall for coach Kienlen this is her favorite time of the season. "For me as a coach I love it. I love when the weather changes because it also triggers a mindset change. To me this sport more than others is mental. So being able to face any adversity and push through it is a good thing, weather included," said coach Kienlen.

Friday WHS will travel to Cody for the Fox and the Hound race. The Fox and the Hound race is a fun race in which the slower runners, the hounds, will start first and after a designated time the faster runners, the foxes, will get their start.

"It's a different type of race and something that changes up the season a bit and keeps it alive," said coach Kienlen.

Also traveling with the WHS team will be the Worland Middle School cross-country team. "Coach (Rob) Woffinden has around 40 runners out this season. So we're excited to see the middle school runners represent and support them during their races," said coach Kienlen.

Thermopolis

For the second consecutive race senior Lady Bobcat Jules Ward finished second overall and was the fastest Wyoming prep runner on the course. Ward's teammates McKenna Bomengen, Tahja Hunt, Olivia Weyer, Erica Meier and Stacy Lewis also turned in great finishing times to give the Lady Bobcats the second highest finish among 3A teams.

"Jules was great and our freshmen are doing extremely well, it's very exciting," said Thermopolis cross-country coach Brenna Abel, "Kenna (Bomengen), Tahj (Hunt), Olivia (Weyer) and Erica (Meier) have seen big improvements. We did lose to Cody but finished second among the other 3A teams ... Comparing the Billings course, which is slightly shorter and flatter, to the Sheridan which is 3.1 miles with more diversity to the course. They really rose to the occasion and challenges of the course."

THS cross-country has been battling the rain and cold this week in their efforts to prepare for the Riverton Invite, which is today.

"You have to train through any kind of weather because at the one meet that counts, you never know what the conditions will be," said coach Abel.

Full results from the Michelle Ludwig Memorial Invitational are as follows.

Varsity

Girls - 93 participants

2, Jules Ward, Thermopolis, 19:04.

14, Kelli Holiday, Worland, 20:58.61.

19, McKenna Bomengen, Thermopolis, 21:27.

27, Tahja Hunt, Thermopolis, 21:38.

58, Brooke Seidel, Worland, 23:15.67.

64, Naibeth Ayungua, Worland, 23:53.75.

69, Olivia Weyer, Thermopolis, 24:21.

72, Stacy Lewis, Thermopolis, 24:38.

78, Elisa Ayungua, Worland, 25:22.72.

80, Tatum Zimmerman, Worland, 25:36.91.

81, Paige Flock, Worland, 25:42.41.

85, Erica Meier, Thermopolis, 26:44.

Boys - 103 Participants

17, Jadon Swalstad, Worland, 17:43.40.

19, Porter Harman, Worland, 17:45.70.

46, Tristan Warren, Worland, 18:59.85.

54, Nathaniel Nelson, Worland, 19:22.61.

63, Jaden Mickelson, Worland, 20:07.06.

65, Sean Miller, Thermopolis, 20:11.

77, Victor Olvera, Worland, 20:41.91.

Junior Varsity

Girls

62, Kylie Woffinden, Worland, 26:13.54.

69, Elizabeth Rhodes, Thermopolis, 26:28.

85, Jariah Cogdill, Worland, 27:52.28.

108, Felicity Loveland, Worland, 30:34.44.

Boys

26, Caleb Fraser, Worland, 20:38.68.

43, Tucker Veal, Worland, 21:05.85.

50, Tyler Hasbany, Worland, 21:18.69.

62, Charles Rishel, Worland, 21:33.21.

75, Francisco De Miguel, Worland, 21:53.50.

80, Braydon Bond, Worland, 22:05.09.

Middle School

Boys - 164 participants

91, Ryan Miller, Thermopolis, 11:51.

142, Karsten Hart, Thermopolis, 13:33.

154, Josiah Butler, Thermopolis, 14:59.

Girls - 169 participants

33, Hallie Martinez, Thermopolis, 11:38.32.

34, Sadie Burr, Thermopolis, 11:38.71.

44, Emme Norsworthy, Thermopolis, 11:58.07.

58, Danya Sandburg, Thermopolis, 12:13.

80, Jasmine Collins, Thermopolis, 12:32.