Cross Country runners continue to see personal bests

Burlington’s cross country team ran twice this past week, seeing personal best times in both Lovell and Cody.
Coach Ryan Olson is pleased with his teams’ progress.
“When it comes to distance running, hard work is almost always rewarded with greatly improved times,” he said. “That is certainly showing this season. These kids have been doing everything asked of them in practice and then going the extra mile (or miles) by running outside of practice on non-school days and weekends.”
The Rocky Mountain Invitational was held at the Foster Gulch golf course in Lovell on Monday. From hot and clear for the middle school girls’ race to cold and windy by the time the varsity boys ran, it was an interesting weather day for the competitors. “We had such completely different weather for the races, but we enjoyed running on a course that we had practiced on so much in the past few years,” said Olson. “Kellen Winters, Jessie Michaels and Howard McNiven all won their races. Kelli McNiven, Joey Chatwin, Jackson Olson and Spencer Hamilton all got personal best times.”
On Thursday, the Huskies traveled to Cody for the Foxes and Hounds meet, which has a different format. Athletes’ previous times are collected; those with slower times start first and those with faster times later. “It
really encourages kids to run their own race and those with a competitive streak love being able to constantly have people to pass. Our Riverside athletes excelled at this race, with Oliver Nordberg improving his time by three minutes and James Bassett and Nick Olmstead also getting personal bests. Burlington freshman James McNiven reached his goal of running under 20 minutes and looks to score some meaningful points at state next month,” said Olson. 
The harriers will be traveling to Worland on Thursday. “It’s a beautiful course where our kids have performed well in the past. We’re excited to have a full girls team for the first time this year. It’s fun to see our program continue to grow and be successful. We plan on working hard in the coming weeks and hopefully reaching our peak next month in Cheyenne,” ended Olson.

ROCKY RESULTS
GIRLS VARSITY — 1, Jessie Michaels, 21:20; 4, Linnie McNiven, 23:54; 5, Joey Chatwin, 25:04.
VARSITY BOYS — 1, Howard McNiven, 17:37; 2, Paul McNiven, 18:36; 4, Connor Hoyt, 18:59; 9, James McNiven, 20:15; 11, Levi Wardell, 20:37; 12, James Bassett, 20:38; 19, Nick Olmstead, 21:51; 22, Colt Haslam, 22:52, 32, Oliver Nordberg, 27:26; 33, Brian O’Barr, 27:28.
MS GIRLS — 7, Kelli McNiven, 14:56; 46, Natalie McNiven, 18:33.
MS BOYS — 1, Kellen Winters, 12:02; 12, Hyrum McNiven, 14:22; 20, Spencer Hamilton, 15:14; 28, Jaxon Buck, 15:55; 71, Jackson Olson, 23:27.

CODY RESULTS
GIRLS VARSITY— 7, Jessie Michaels, 20:14.24; 35, Linnie McNiven, 22:47.42; 49, Joey Chatwin, 23:51.98.
BOYS VARSITY — 4, Howard McNiven, 17:02.69; 18, Paul McNiven, 17:41.71; 31, Connor Hoyt, 18:18.41; 58, James McNiven, 19:54.41; 61, Levi Wardell, 20:00.31; 74, Nick Olmstead, 20:51.99; 82, Colt Haslam, 21:37.87; 96, Greg McNiven, 22:45.04; 104, Oliver Nordberg, 24:09.53; 109, Brian O’Barr, 25:20.98.