Warriors take 3A East, Lady Warriors finish second

A change in course did not deter the Worland cross-country runners as they kicked off the postseason with an impressive showing at the 3A East conference meet in Buffalo on Oct. 13.

The Warriors cruised to the 3A East championship, scoring 29 points, making it back-to-back 3A East titles for the program. Buffalo was second with 40 points and Rawlins third with 126 points.

Not only did the Warriors have the top two runners at the meet, but all five scoring runners finished in the top 10, earning all-conference honors for all of them.

Warrior Trajn Swalstad won the meet with a time of 16:37.55; Jacob Holiday was second, running 17:32.50; Will Bishop finished third at 17:54.56; Scottie Thomas ran a 17:58.30 to finish ninth; Ira Croft was the fifth Worland runner to finish, running 18:16.72 and placing 10th.

A runner must finish in the top 10 of the varsity race to earn all-conference.

"It was super exciting to get five all-conference honors," said WHS cross-country coach Tanya Kienlen. "To come in and perform at what you're expected to do is super important. That was also valuable for our team and to fight for those all-conference honors."

The Warriors alternate runners weren't far

off from the top 10 either; Kiyoshi Smith was 12th (18:21.95) and Ivan Thomas 16th (18:33.45).

Warrior freshman Krew Neighbors won the JV race at a time of 18:35.58.

The Lady Warriors were second with 49 points. Buffalo won the girls meet with 28 points and Douglas was third with 88 points.

The Lady Warriors' top runner was Zena Tapia, who finished second, running a 20:04.36. Nyssa Leyva was seventh, crossing at 21:53.69. Ava Tapia was 14th with a time of 22:48.96; Sabrina Gentzler was 15th, running 23:01.31; Ella Garcia ran a 23:23.50 to finish 19th.

While Tapia didn't win the 3A East, the junior will bounce back at state.

"We've discussed that every race can be a good race if you learn from it. That wasn't the outcome Zena wanted, but it was good for her to analyze what part she broke down, and she was ready to tackle the next race. That is what we've been looking for, and becoming stronger runners. Every race is a win if you learn from it, you adapt and get better for the next race, and that's exactly what she's done.

"Runners who did not have the race that they wanted. We're again analyzing what we can do better. Where did I break down, and what changes can be made for state," said Kienlen. "Still, it was a great, great day, they were excited to represent, and I was grateful that we could run."

The conference meet changed courses due to rain waterlogging the originally intended course. Even with the course change, the Worland runners handled that sudden change like true competitors willing to tackle any challenge brought to them.

"Everybody's in the same boat, and you can take on whatever is given to you. As a coach and a team, we just said, 'You are flexible to adapt to the weather, you are flexible to adapt to the course, you're flexible to adapt to where we're going.' The reason why is because our strength is the team. That was key to us this weekend, and we could handle whatever weather, whatever course and whatever else was thrown at us," Kienlen said.

Preparing for the 3A State meet, the Warriors and Lady Warriors spent most of the week breaking down the state course, developing their strategies and looking for edges.

"Our Motivational Monday was analyzing our state course, huge compliments to Cheyenne on how they put that out. They sent a virtual video, and we've broken that down. We can look at the elevation gain of the areas and corners and so forth. We could look at the course to discuss where we thought moveable points are and start visualizing where we're going and creating a plan. We're starting to taper a little bit, but knowing we're a few days out, it's not a complete taper," said Kienlen.

The course at the Cheyenne Country Club features a lot of straightaways, and the Worland runners will have to manage the elevation change. Cheyenne sits at 6086 feet.

"There are some straightaways, and they will be away from the crowd. They will be fast, but we move as a team on those straightaways. That is a huge piece. You're going to be on your own on those straightaways. How you mentally push through those moments is another piece we've worked on and talked about.

"Elevation gain is always a factor. Mentally, we just need to prepare for it. You might take a moment to catch your breath, and that's OK. Just like anything else, you need to adapt. The elevation will affect not just our team but a lot of teams who haven't had that advantage of training at high elevations," said Kienlen.

Who wins the 3A State championship is anyone's guess on the boys' side. Worland, Buffalo, Cody, Evanston and Riverton will all have a say.

Evanston won the 3A West conference meet and has been training in a similar elevation to Cheyenne all season. Cody's top runner, Charlie Hulbert, is back from injury and returned to form.

If the Warriors want to return home with a top-three finish or even the championship, it is going to take each Warrior runner executing their race strategy.

"Knowing that when you put things together, you adjust a little bit. Our goal on the boys' side is to bring home a trophy, and that's going to be up for grabs. There are five teams we're battling against. Evanston, we haven't raced against, but they are very strong. They do have the advantage because they run at higher elevations here and there.

"Mentality-wise, if we want to take home the trophy, you're going to have to work hard to get in that top three. Cody has always been strong, and Charlie's been running even stronger. We have some amazing athletes as opponents and getting a trophy will be a dogfight," said Kienlen.

The biggest key for Worland this weekend is positioning. Times and splits are great, but bringing home a trophy will come down to passing key opposing runners.

"Sometimes you train for time and pacing. This time, we are not training for equal miles. We are training for positioning. That becomes a different focus and a different target, for sure. We are focused on positioning and not necessarily time," said Kienlen.

The 3A boys start at 10:30 a.m., and the 3A girls at noon.

For spectators making the trip to Cheyenne on Saturday, there is no parking allowed at the Cheyenne Country Club due to narrow driveway and limited parking availability. Spectators will park at the Frontier Days lot and shuttle to the course.