High school cross-country: Athletes hit season’s final stretch in full stride at Cedar Invitational

Written by Jeff Richards
September 30, 2023

CEDAR CITY — The Cedar High girls and the Desert Hills boys were the respective winners of the varsity cross-country races at Cedar High School on Wednesday evening.

Athletes compete in the Cedar Invitational cross-country meet, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 27, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

In the girls race, Cedar edged runner-up Pine View by a single point, according to the results page on Athletic.net. Sophomore Samantha Heaton was the Reds’ fifth-place finisher with her 15th-place overall time of 20:05.09 coming in between Pine View runners Katie Finch and Brianna Udy.

Winning the girls individual race was Kanab sophomore Kenidee Glazier, who posted a season-best time of 18:15.56. Glazier’s time was 24 seconds faster than runner-up Lydia Forsyth of Canyon View, who crossed the finish line in 18:39.57. Finishing in third was sophomore Kendra Raiger of Desert Hills with a time of 19:00.37

In the boys varsity race that followed, Desert Hills saw four of the top 10 finishers as the Thunder posted a team score of 32, while runner-up Pine View scored 65. Leading the way for Desert Hills was senior Walker Brinkerhoff, who finished in 15:34, with James Butterfield of Snow Canyon taking second in 15:50.52 and Tucker Larsen of Desert Hills coming in third with 15:53.64.

“It was a solid meet from our team today,” said Desert Hills coach Logan Fielding. “I’m really happy with how we are looking going into the championship phase of our season.”

For the top 10 team scores in the varsity races, see below. For complete meet results, click here.

This coming Tuesday, Oct. 3 will be the Region 9 championship meet at Cedar City’s Bicentennial Park. The girls varsity race is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m., with the boys race following at approximately 5:50 p.m.

Then, the following week, on Oct. 10, will be the pre-state divisional meet for 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A schools at Lakeside Park in Orem. For more information about those races, click here.

Finally, on Oct. 24, the state cross-country championships for all six classifications will be held at Regional Athletic Park in Salt Lake City. For complete state meet information as listed on the Utah High School Activities Association’s website, click here.

Cedar High Invitational, Sept. 27, 2023

Kenidee Glazier of Kanab competes in the Cedar Invitational cross-country meet, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 27, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Top 10 boys team results

  1. Desert Hills, 32
  2. Pine View, 65
  3. Cedar City, 75
  4. Snow Canyon, 119
  5. Canyon View, 153
  6. Crimson Cliffs, 165
  7. (tie) Hurricane, 171
  8. (tie) Manti, 171
  9. Richfield, 235
  10. Delta, 315

Top 10 girls team results

  1. Cedar City, 49
  2. Pine View, 50
  3. Desert Hills, 55
  4. Canyon View, 80
  5. Snow Canyon, 144
  6. Crimson Cliffs, 159
  7. Dixie, 216
  8. Richfield, 219
  9. Manti, 221
  10. Beaver, 251

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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