Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Worland cross-country readies for 3A State on Saturday in Sheridan
Warrior Porter Harman pushes ahead during the Worland Invitational at Green Hills Golf Course in Worland on Sept. 20.
WORLAND - The Worland Warriors cross-country dominance in the 3A East continued last Friday in Douglas. The Warriors won their fourth straight 3A East conference championship and Porter Harman three-peated as the conference's individual champion.
"It was super great and we knew the boys had a shot but they still needed to do their jobs," said WHS cross-country coach Tanya Kienlen. "It's not always easy because even the best make mistakes. Usain Bolt false-started at the Olympics, that's why we kept talking about coming in and doing your job. The Warriors came, performed to the best of their ability and were able to pull it off."
As a team, the Warriors scored 49 points and Harman won the race with a time of 17:02.19. Nathaniel Nelson joined Harman in the top 10, who all receive All-Conference honors, coming in sixth, running 18:16.14.
While they did not earn All-Conference honors the Warriors No. 3-5 runners all finished in the top 15, which greatly contributed to the team's fourth-straight conference championship. Caleb Fraser was 13th (18:55.04), Aaron Vigil 14th (18:58.14) and Victor Olvera (18:02.89) 15th.
The Lady Warriors were not able to defend their conference title from last season as Buffalo proved to be a tough team, but they did finish second with 63 points and had three runners earn All-Conference. Kelli Holiday was eighth (21:36.55), Lindsey Holiday ninth (21:37.39) and Hailee Hunter 10th (21:41.66).
Looking at how closely the Warriors and Lady Warriors runners finished to their teammates, Kienlen's team exercises in the lead up to conference certainly paid off and gave both teams an edge in Douglas.
"Buffalo came through and performed but our girls still gave a fine performance and pulled ahead of Pine Bluffs," said Kienlen. As we prepped going into Douglas, we emphasized team building, as we have all season. We did some escape boxes that focused teamwork and collaboration. We also did a pumpkin challenge, I broke them up into teams and they had to create a motivation pumpkin for team building.
Added Kienlen: "I know some might be asking why now, this late in the season for team building? But even though in cross-country you succeed as an individual, fighting for your placement or PR. You have the power to contribute as a scorer for your team. So when the going gets tough, you have a teammate that gives you the motivation to push through the pain of that last mile or hill."
Douglas was also the final race for both Warrior and Lady Warrior runners. It capped a strong season by some of Worland's next wave of up and coming varsity stars. Warrior Jackson Wassum finishing fourth among JV boys (20:00.65) and Lady Warrior Odalys Osorio also finished fourth among the JV girls (25:42.76)
"Jackson Wassum is going to be a strong competitor and I look forward to having him back next year. He ran really well and I'm excited to see his leadership next year. My freshman, like Odalys Osorio she came in and placed on JV which was excellent," said Kienlen.
The season comes to a close Saturday in Sheridan at the Sheridan V.A. Hospital Grounds. The 3A girls run first at 11:45 a.m. and the 3A boys start at 1:15 p.m.
The 3A boys field is going to be a battle with the Warriors going against Cody, Jackson and Star Valley. Last week in Lander for the 3A West conference meet Star Valley edged out Jackson for the conference title by the slimmest of margins. The two schools tied for first with their first five runners, so the tiebreaker came down to the sixth runner. Jackson's Juan Florez finished 33rd with a time of 19:44.15, but Star Valley's Scott Orton came in 32nd, running a 19:43.37.
Bringing home hardware is going to be a challenge for both Warriors and Lady Warriors, nonetheless, Kienlen's runners are going to give it their all and let the chips fall where they may.
"Sheridan has hosted the state meet for quite a few years and most of my kids are familiar with the course. We're racing against all teams and it's going to be a numbers game. The competition for a trophy is going to be very tough with Star Valley, Jackson and Cody," said Kienlen. "The focus for us is still No eXCuses, run your race and fight to represent Worland in the top half of the state. As a coach, I'm looking forward to state. [Class] 3A is very strong and it's going to be a dogfight for the top 10 All-State positions."
