CC at Colfax and Panorama

Published by admin on Tue, 05/12/2020 - 7:36am

With recent meets all over the state getting canceled due to heavy rainfall, Ogden cross country coach Ryan Kobliska said they were happy to get a chance to compete Monday, Sept 10 in Colfax.

“Warm temperatures and a hilly course made for slower race times, but our kids’ determination produced continued improvement in the junior high group and a team title for our high school boys,” he said.

“The boys executed a patient race style to score a season-best 57 points and win the 13-team race. Other teams had several runners ahead of our top guys in the early going, but our boys steadily worked their way up the pack over the second half to pull away.”

Stephen Flynn was Ogden’s top runner for the second time this season, taking 4th place overall. His time of 18:34 was a strong race given the conditions. Kobliska felt perhaps the top performance came from Preston Gronseth, who passed 12 runners in the final mile to help seal up the victory. Medalists included Flynn (4th), Garrett Buxton (6th), Landon Smith (11th), Preston (16th), and Rhett Johnson (25th).

“We’re excited to see the gap between our top three and our #4 and #5 scorers continue to close each week,” commented the coach.

The high school girls took seventh place and were led by Bella Russo, who was competing in her first race. She and Amber Braniff pushed each other throughout the race, with Russo closing with a strong kick. Reagan Kruse was just 14 seconds behind, as she continues to edge closer to Ogden’s top runners.

Kobliska says they are also seeing lots of improvement from the junior high teams, who were competing in their second race of the season. Braydon Doty and Sage Seeger were over a minute faster than last week, and Gavin Palmer improved by over four minutes. Levi Russo ran very well in his first race and was our fourth finisher. The top three of Carson Van Sickle, Payton Van Sickle and Parker Trusler each earned medals for placing in the top 15.

See team standings and individual times/placings in the Sept. 19 issue of The Ogden Reporter.

At Panorama

Thursday’s (Sept. 20) race at Panorama gave Ogden cross country teams the opportunity to race every team from the conference, in addition to several strong 1A teams.

“The course challenged runners with many hills, tight turns, and narrow trails,” said the Bulldog coach. “Afternoon temperatures were plenty warm, which slowed race times considerably.

This meet tends to attract some of the best boys’ teams in the state, and last night was no different. #1 Madrid and #2 Nodaway Valley headlined a field that included eight teams that have been ranked this season.”

Unfortunately Ogden faced that competition a little short-handed, as three of their regular varsity runners were unable to compete.”

Linden Seeger and Trey Minnihan did a nice job filling in, and each scored team points for the first time this season. Stephen Flynn cut 50 seconds from last year’s time to finish as their lone medalist in 17th place. Cade Barnett cut almost two minutes from this meet a year ago to lead the JV squad.

The girls team showed improvement from earlier in the week, as Bella Russo and April McGriff set personal records and helped them finish 13th. Amber Braniff ran the course two minutes faster than last year. Stats will appear next week.

The Bulldogs will be competing this Thursday at the Norsemen Invitational at Roland-Story.