Courtesy of VHS Cross-Country Coach
State Preview
Bartlett High School
September 14, 2024
The Bucs Cross-Country Team took the opportunity to check out the altered state course at Bartlett High School. The muddy course started and ended on the practice field with two hilly loops through a birch and aspen forest.
The Boys Open Race hosted 269 runners. JV runners Robert Taylor and Zach Berkley started off strong and maintained a steady pace throughout the race. Taylor dug deep to get a much desired personal record of 22:07 finishing 126th overall. Berkley powered up hills and finished strong in 169th place at 23:23.
The open races churned up the mud for the 128 Varsity Girls. Hamilton and J. Weber again stayed consistent between laps and worked on powering up hills. J. Weber finished 118th at 27:11 and Hamilton wasn’t far behind in 124th place at 28:29.
The 157 Varsity Boys were faced with a slip n’ slide of a course as the rain picked up. Their spikes were no match for the slick terrain. All of the Bucs stayed within 3 minutes of each other, showing a true team pushing each other to stay as a pack. The boys focused on technique and hills this race. Reggie Baksis led the pack with a tumble at the finish line in 45th place at 18:11. A minute later Humphrey passed teammate VanBuskirk to finish 91st at 19:12 and VanBuskirk finished 100th place at 19:20. Overcoming a fall on the course, L. Beck finished 115th at 19:52, followed by Carter in 125th place at 20:17, D. beck in 131st place at 20:46 and R. Weber in 136th place at 21:00. Valdez placed 17th as a team out of 18 teams.
This race had the best of Alaska running. We will be hitting the hills hard as we prepare for Regions. Next week we head to Fairbanks to practice the hills of Birch Hills and get a preview of the Region 6 Championship course.
