Burlington boys win state cross country title

The State Cross Country Championships were held in Cheyenne Saturday and the Burlington boys are once again state champs, taking home their fourth title in five years. 

“I love cross country and distance running because hard work and dedication almost always gets rewarded on race day,” said Coach Ryan Olson. “It would be hard for me to believe that there were many teams that worked harder than our boys this season. Through summer training, tough sprints, difficult hill runs, our team did them all and it all came together on Saturday.” 

Freshman Kellen Winters won the individual title in the 2A boys division, with a time that would have won him the 3A division and had him placing fourth in the 4A division. Connor Hoyt placed fourth and Bradford Davidson placed sixth, which earned all three runners all-state status. James McNiven also placed in the top 15. “He finished high enough to make the final results not near as close as we expected. I’m so proud of these kids. They set this goal months ago and did everything needed to reach it.”

On the girls side, freshman Kelli McNiven placed second. “I think her finish would have been worthy of a SportsCenter highlight in dedication. With 200 meters to go, her legs gave out. She tried multiple times to stand up and walk, only to fall back down again. She literally crawled on all fours past the finish line, finishing just ahead of the sprinting girl behind her, winning by less than a second. I was amazed at her grit and determination.” 

The Huskies will be losing seniors Ben Mendenhall, Loomis Alexander, Adelle Olson and Raygen Andrew. “We will miss them. They gave the team great examples in leadership and did a wonderful job leading our younger runners.

“There were many others who helped make this season a success, including parents, bus drivers, and the fire and police departments that helped escort the winning bus into town on Saturday night. Greg Mendenhall was an amazing assistant coach who supervised many of the workouts in Basin and helped form a perfect partnership between Riverside and Burlington. Robby and Brandy Lee of Lander were also an essential part of the team, hosting our kids at their summer cross country camp and designing workouts, goals and guidance throughout the season.

“The kids plan to work hard in our other team sports these next few months and pursue their goals. With all our scoring athletes returning next year, we hope to see our success continue next year,” ended Olson.

STATE RESULTS

GIRLS – 2, Kelli McNiven, 20:57.60. 34, Adelle Olson, 25:35.80. 49, Raygen Andrew, 28:29.80. 53, Sydney Jacobson, 30:26.10.

BOYS – 1, Kellen Winters, 16:36.40. 4, Connor Hoyt, 17:44.50. 6, Bradford Davidson, 18:04.20. 14, James McNiven, 18:54.30. 36, Hyrum McNiven, 21:27.40. 52, Ben Mendenhall, 23:26.20. 54, Bryant Casey, 23:53.80.