WHS and HSCHS runners ready for regional meet Friday

WORLAND - The 3A East Regional cross-country meet takes place this Friday afternoon in Douglas and both Worland High School and Hot Springs County High School runners are focused on closing out the season on high notes.

"We're looking strong but we're still going to take it one meet at a time," said HSCHS cross-country coach Brenna Abel. "We have a lot of runners with all-conference goals, the whole team is running extremely well and I want them to keep running with a calm demeanor."

"The dedication has been great and becoming more focused as the season ends," said Worland cross-country coach Tanya Kienlen when asked about her favorite aspects of the team this season. "They've also stayed positive because we have no allowance for negative talk and you can't take away a great race from somebody else. So it's only positive talk, whether or not you hate the weather or not feeling well. With this group I'm pleased with the fact they've kept a positive attitude all season and kept encouraging each other to be the best they can be."

With the postseason here both teams are peaking which is exactly what you want to see if you're a coach, parent or fan of the teams. The Lady Bobcats won their second consecutive meet scoring 38 points at the Powell Invite Saturday, with Jules Ward winning her third consecutive race, McKenna Bomengen placing third, Tahja Hunt sixth, Olivia Weyer 12th and Stacey Lewis 16th.

"It was a really good day for us. We're running great, have had big improvements and personal records. It was nice and we had contributing factors with Tahja (Hunt), Stacy (Lewis) and Olivia (Weyer) finishing as high as they did. As a team we expected that, they set the challenge and the girls rose to the occasion," said coach Abel.

The Warrior and Lady Warrior runners also had a strong day at the Powell Invite. The Warriors had two runners, Porter Harman (fourth) and Jadon Swalstad (fifth), place in the top five. Nathaniel Nelson (16th), Victor Olvera (19th) and Jaden Mickelson (25th) rounded the final five for the Worland boys. Lady Warrior Kelli Holiday was second with a time of 19:38.94. For the remaining Lady Warrior varsity runners, Paige Flock was 20th, Brooke Seidel 22nd, Naibeth Ayungua 24th and Tatum Zimmerman 27th.

"I definitely would say Kelli looks super strong, she had another PR and gets mentally strong with each race," said coach Kienlen, "As for our boys team I was extremely proud. We had two varsity runners out in Tristian Warren and Rylan Macko. We gave Tristian the week to heal up and Rylan I asked to use this as a workout rather than a race. So having Gabe Webster and Victor Olvera step it up in their places and be top scorers was huge for us as a team."

Both coaches Kienlen and Abel are excited for regionals this Friday and the Douglas course, with its hill and unique layout, will provide a challenge to their runners. But each coach knows their teams are up for the task and will perform their best.

"The Douglas course isn't run on a golf course like most courses. We run on the Bearcat trail, which has a badlands feel to it," said coach Abel, "The kids are excited, it's like our home course which they like and it's going to be exciting to see what they can do."

"It's going to be a tougher course and our times may not be fast due to a hill and it's kind of like the badlands. It will be a good mental challenge overall but we'll be prepared for it. We'll arrive early so they can walk and visualize the course," said coach Kienlen, "They had a solid workout Monday and this will be an important race for everyone to prove they can post a team top seven time and move on to state. We've trained all season and now it's time to put that training to work, I know our kids will be ready and it will be a good day Friday."

The results from the Powell Invite are as follows.

Girls

1, Jules Ward, Thermopolis, 18:31.75.

2, Kelli Holiday, Worland, 19:38.94.

3, McKenna Bomengen, Thermopolis, 19:52.32.

6, Tahja Hunt, Thermopolis, 20:14.49.

12, Olivia Weyer, Thermopolis, 21:13.70.

16, Stacy Lewis, Thermopolis, 21:50.31.

20, Paige Flock, Worland, 22:16.56.

22, Brooke Seidel, Worland, 22:29.66.

24, Naibeth Ayungua, Worland, 22:37.10.

27, Tatum Zimmerman, Worland, 23:19.76.

30, Aime Robinson, Thermopolis, 23:42.06.

33, Erica Meier, Thermopolis, 24:01.99.

36, Elizabeth Rhodes, Thermopolis, 24:25.09.

38, Kylie Woffinden, Worland, 25:01.47.

44, Elisa Ayungua, Worland, 26:15.45.

47, Jariah Cogdill, Worland, 26:38.58.

Boys

4, Porter Harman, Worland, 17:10.85.

5, Jadon Swalstad, Worland, 17:21.20.

16, Nathaniel Nelson, Worland, 18:21.28.

19, Victor Olvera, Worland, 18:42.08.

25, Jaden Mickelson, Worland, 18:58.13.

28, Gabe Webster, Worland, 19:08.01.

29, Charles Rishel, Worland, 19:09.55.

30, Rylan Mocko, Worland, 19:10.22.

31, Sean Miller, Thermopolis, 19:11.38.

34, Caleb Fraser, Worland, 19:28.00.

36, Tucker Veal, Worland, 19:44.01.

43, Tyler Hasbany, Worland, 20:21.66.

47, Braydon Bond, Worland, 20:30.18.

52, Francisco De Miguel, Worland, 20:52.26.

53, Joe Keller, Worland, 20:53.45.

54, Jacob Newell, Worland, 20:56.80.