Burlington’s harriers win big in Ethete

Burlington’s cross-country team celebrated their conference weekend with a first place for the boys’ team and a second place for the girls’ team and with freshmen Kellen Winters and Kelli McNiven each coming home with the individual title. 

“The strongest teams in the state typically come from our conference, and this year is no exception. This is always good to give the kids some good competition before the state meet,” said Coach Ryan Olson. “We always want to be performing our best at the end of the year and I feel this is happening this year. Twelve of our 17 athletes got their personal best times either this week or last week. We hope to see it continue this weekend.” 

All-conference medals are awarded to the top 10 placers. On the boy’s side this included Winters, Connor Hoyt, James McNiven, Bradford Davidson and Bryant Casey and on the girls’ side, K. McNiven and Adelle Olson. 

Olson is preparing and looking forward to the culminating event. “Unlike other regular season meets, the state meet only allows us to enter seven athletes,” he said. “It’s important for all of our kids to realize how important they are to our team and that each one of them makes our team better, whether they are running in Cheyenne or not. 

“We’re excited about this weekend. Like most years, we’re expecting a close finish. It will be so important for us to be performing our best. Every place will matter in the final results. Our kids are excited. Many of them have been working for months and it’s time to show what they can do.” 

The State Cross Country Championships will be held in Cheyenne at the Little America Golf Course. Burlington competes in the 2A division; the boys will start at 11:30 a.m. and the girls will start at 1 p.m. 

FIVE RIVER CONFERENCE RESULTS 

GIRLS – 1, Kelli McNiven, 20:10.75. 10, Adelle Olson, 24:38.99. 16, Raygen Andrew, 26:27.15. 27, Sydney Jacobson, 36:12.81. 

BOYS – 1, Kellen Winters, 17:01.10. 2, Connor Hoyt, 17:38.01. 8, James McNiven, 18:47.30. 9, Bryant Casey, 18:50.08. 10, Bradford Davidson, 19:00.68. 25, Hyrum McNiven, 21:11.61. 30, Ariel Cordova, 22:29.48. 32, Ben Mendenhall, 22:44.37. 47, Brian O’Barr, 26:22.14. 51, Jackson Olson, 37:57.81.