Husky Harriers do well in Lander

Winters, McNiven take first in middle school cross country

It was a packed course in Lander on Thursday during a cross-country invitational with 25 middle and high school teams. 

“The highlight of the day was probably watching our runners take both the boys’ and girls’ individual titles in the middle school races,” said Coach Ryan Olson. “Kellen Winters won the boys’ race with a time of 11:43 and Kelli McNiven did the same on the girls’ side, coming in at 14:31. 

“This was a big meet with teams from both sides of the state and on a course that wasn’t easy. To see their hard work pay off was really satisfying.” 

The high school harriers ran later in the day and again saw the top four Huskies coming in at 20 minutes and under. “This is a good sign as we get past the halfway point of the season,” said Olson. “Howard McNiven led the Huskies with a time of 17:55; he finished seventh overall in a really competitive field. This meet had a lot of the best competition that we’ll be seeing at the state meet, so it was nice to see how we matched up. Everybody’s times seem to be improving through the state, so we should have plenty of motivation to keep working hard these next few weeks.” 

Burlington will be in Worland today (Thursday, Sept. 26) with the middle school races starting at 1 and the high school following at 3 p.m. 

LANDER RESULTS 

VARSITY BOYS – 7, Howard McNiven, 17:55.40; 14, Paul McNiven, 18:31.67; 21, Colt Haslam, 18:42; 44, James McNiven, 20.00.12; 84, Connor Hoyt, 23:04.60; 94, Ben Mendenhall, 27:18.58.

JV BOYS – 51, Nick Olmstead, 24:10.65; 80, Brian O’Barr, 31:33.86; 82, Jackson Olson, 39:26.99. 

JV GIRLS – 17, Adelle Olson, 30:30.98; 34, Raygen Andrew: 44:31.12. 

MS BOYS – 1, Kellen Winters, 11:43.53; 21, Hyrum McNiven, 14:59.28; 34, Jaxon Buck, 15:29.15; 50, Ariel Cordova, 16:18.40; 77, Spencer Hamilton, 17:34.48. 

MS GIRLS – 1, Kelli McNiven, 14:31.23; 22, Natalie McNiven, 17:58.22; 84, Piper Frame, 23:51.84; 94, Sydney Jacobson, 23:34.49.