Warriors finish seventh, Lady Warriors sixth at 3A state meet

WORLAND - Class 3A cross-country on both girls and boys sides, was highly-competitive all season long and the state meet did not disappoint. Sixteen teams in total battled for 3A's top three team spots and the 10 All-State spots at the Sheridan V.A. Hospital Grounds in Sheridan on Oct. 20.

Worland cross-country held their own in Wyoming's toughest cross-country classification. The Lady Warriors were sixth scoring 165 points and the Warriors were seventh with 193 points. Warrior senior Porter Harman finished sixth overall and earned his third straight All-State honor.

"Overall, it wasn't the script we wanted – everyone is aiming for that first-place trophy – so for me, we focused on our team's personal victories and there were a lot of them," said WHS cross-country coach Tanya Kienlen. "For Porter, we knew 1-10 was going to be a tight race and to come away with sixth place and All-State, that's something to be super proud of. The girls team, we had PRs [personal records] across the board and pushed it to the next level and got the job done."

Continued Kienlen, "On the boys' side it was definitely a building aspect because four of them had never been to state. It was good for Gavin [McColloch] to see what state is about and he can return and know what to expect next time. And it gives more motivation to focus and work hard over the summer."

Out of the three classes running at state (2A, 3A, 4A), 3A was easily, pound for pound, the most competitive. For the 3A boys, 50 seconds separated second to 11th place and the 3A girls, 61 seconds was the difference between a second or an 11th-place.

Typically, during state there's a pack here followed by a sprinkling of individual runners, then another pack and so. This year, it was congested from start to finish and placement constantly changed in what felt like every five steps.

Everyone runner mattered for team scoring and while Worland didn't finish where they would have liked, they competed in one of the toughest cross-country seasons and were among the better teams in 2018.

"The level of competition in 3A was outstanding, both across the boys and girls teams. With 16 teams and so many competitors, it's fun to see how the ones that really shine are your fourth and fifth runners as they try to move up. They're just as valuable in big races," said Kienlen.

Those at state got to witness history also when Rawlins' Sydney Thorvalson broke the state record running a 17:34.68. And as she approached the finish line, it wasn't just the Rawlins faithful cheering her on, even rival fans and runners from other schools were encouraging Thorvalson to break the record.

"It was a perfect state event because you get to see the best of the best," said Kienlen. "Being a part of that environment is stimulating and watching Sydney Thorvalson dominate, break the state record and make history, it was just a fun day to celebrate."

2018 was the final season for seniors Elisa Ayungua, Nyah Campbell, Kelli Holiday, Hailee Hunter, Harman, Rylan Mocko, Nathaniel Nelson, Victor Olvera, Charles Rishel and Aaron Vigil. Each brought a different style of leadership to the team and helped bring a tough-minded approach that defined this year's team.

"They all had their own unique qualities and that's the absolute truth," said Kienlen. "You had your leaders like Porter and Kelli who were outstanding as far as their performance. But you had other quiet motivators like Hailee Hunter and Caleb Fraser who led behind the scenes. Then there were others that were consistent and positive that just kept the rest of the team going by leading by example. The mixture of all their qualities certainly helped define the team."

Worland will be relatively young next season but still talented. Next year's freshmen joining the program could be counted on sooner, rather than later and those returning will need to put in the necessary offseason work if they want to keep Worland among the better teams in 3A.

Kienlen said, "Thanks to a great feeder program with coach [Rachel Cruz] and coach [Brenna] Abel, the numbers transitioning from middle school are going to be huge and dynamite for us. I have a couple freshmen coming in that I'm banking on, which is exciting.

"On top of that, the ones that are returning now have been through the program and have experience being conference champs and things like that. I think experiences like that will lead to them wanting to train harder over the summer because they saw the results their seniors got from it."

Worland's seniors like Harman and Nelson set good examples of the work required to improve as runners. Each had solid freshman seasons but after that made tremendous leaps forward in their development each offseason.

"Both Porter and Nathaniel are great examples, Nathaniel barely made the state team as a freshman and now he was 27th in the state; with all those teams competing, that's outstanding," said Kienlen.

Aside from all the personal and team achievements this season, like the Warriors four-peating as 3A East champions, for Kienlen the highlight of the season was watching her team come together. Every week the team shared their motivations for running or what fuels them to get by the toughest moments in a race. On or off the course, each Worland runner had their teammates' backs.

"The team motivation that came within the kids, they looked forward to team meetings; bringing in quotes for our Words of Wisdom Wednesdays and Motivational Mondays," said Kienlen. "Seeing them fuel our team like that showed how we're not just a team, but a cross-country family. And they made that come to life by supporting each other on and off the course."

Results from the 3A State cross-country meet are as follows

LADY WARRIORS

20, Lindsey Holiday, 20:51.32.

22, Kelli Holiday, 20:59.07.

28, Hailee Hunter, 21:26.81.

33, Brooke Flock, 21:41.26.

63, Tatum Zimmerman, 23:09.81.

WARRIORS

6, Porter Harman, 16:32.15

27, Nathaniel Nelson, 18:01.14.

38, Victor Olvera, 18:17.91.

55, Caleb Fraser, 18:54.05.

67, Boe Nicholas, 19:17.08.