Region 9 cross-country: Cedar girls, Desert Hills boys repeat as region champs

Written by Jeff Richards
October 5, 2023
Runners compete in Region 9 cross-county championships, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — The Cedar High girls and the Desert Hills boys won the Region 9 cross-country championships Tuesday evening at Cedar City’s Bicentennial Park.

Cedar girls pose with trophy after winning Region 9 cross-county championship, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Penny Butterfield, St. George News

Cedar’s girls placed four runners among the top 10, with senior Callie Peterson coming in at 14th place to round out the Reds’ top five. Cedar finished with a team score of 37, while runner-up Pine View scored 47.

The individual girls varsity winner was sophomore Kendra Raiger of Desert Hills, who crossed the finish line of the 3-mile course in 19:06.31. Less than one second behind her was Cedar junior Lucy Eckley with a time of 19:07.62.

“We are impressed with our team as a whole, both varsity and JV,” said Cedar head coach Greg Harris, who noted that Cedar also won both of the junior varsity races at the start of the meet.

“Everyone performed well and helped the team be successful,” Harris added. “Our girls varsity came out on top thanks to some girls stepping up, specifically sophomore Sam Heaton, who was fourth overall.”

Desert Hills head coach Logan Fielding extended his congratulations to the Cedar Reds.

“Cedar has a great girls’ team and are well-coached,” Fielding said. “Congrats to them for winning region.”

“It was fun seeing Kendra Raiger win region for us as a sophomore,” Fielding added. “Our girls’ team had three in the top 10 but we needed our fourth and fifth to be a little tighter.” 

Desert Hills boys pose with trophy after winning Region 9 cross-county championship, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Penny Butterfield, St. George News

In the boys varsity race that followed, the Desert Hills Thunder had a winning score of 35, while runner-up Cedar scored 59.

Leading the way for the Thunder was senior Walker Brinkerhoff, who finished in 15:30.91, with junior teammate Tucker Larsen coming in second place with a time of 15:49.02.

“Very happy with how the boys raced,” Fielding said. “Nice to have four guys in the top 10 and five in the top 15.”

Both the Reds and the Thunder were repeat winners from last year, when the Region 10 meet was held in St. George. Both teams also went on to win the respective 4A state championships.

But with the 4A classification now having double the number of schools it had last year (26 versus 13), this year’s state meet will be staged differently.

First off, there will be a divisional meet next Tuesday, Oct. 10 at Lakeside Park in Orem, which will narrow down the number of schools qualifying for state in the four upper classifications (3A-6A).

Runners compete in Region 9 cross-county championships, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

In the case of 4A, only the top 20 schools, in addition to the top 12 individual athletes from non-qualifying schools, will advance to compete at the state meet on Oct. 24 at Regional Athletic Park in Salt Lake City. 

Fielding said the addition of the divisional meet, also being called the first round of state, will result in a “slight adjustment for the next couple weeks of training going into state but not a big deal.”

Fielding said the Thunder boys are likely to face a tough challenge at state from both Mountain View and Provo.

“We beat Mountain View earlier in the year but we are going to have to put together a complete race to have a shot to win,” he said. “It will be fun though. The boys are up for the challenge.”

As for the 4A girls, Mountain View and Green Canyon are projected to be the top two teams in the state, Fielding noted.

“Cedar and Pine View have consistently been in the top five at state on both the boys and girls’ sides,” he added. “Region 9 has typically been the top region in the state. It will be fun to see how it all plays out.”

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

Region 9 cross-country championships

Runners compete in Region 9 cross-county championships, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Bicentennial Park, Cedar City, Oct. 3

Top 15 girls finishers

  1. Kendra Raiger, Desert Hills, 19:06.31.
  2. Lucy Eckley, Cedar, 19:07.62.
  3. Olivia Lay, Desert Hills, 19:10.19.
  4. Samantha Heaton, Cedar, 19:15.72.
  5. Elle Williams, Pine View, 19:21.61.
  6. Brecken Heath, Pine View, 19:24.71.
  7. Kendee Corry, Cedar, 19:25.06.
  8. Talia Skinner, Desert Hills, 19:25.88.
  9. Kate Jones, Pine View, 19:26.05.
  10. Mayce Dalton, Cedar, 19:30.65.
  11. Maggie Crosby, Snow Canyon, 19:57.25.
  12. Emmalee Williams, Pine View, 19:59.28.
  13. Corinne Young, Snow Canyon, 20:07.10.
  14. Callie Peterson, Cedar, 20:09.16.
  15. Katie Finch, Pine View, 20:11.50.

Girls team scores

  1. Cedar City, 37
  2. Pine View, 47
  3. Desert Hills, 54
  4. Snow Canyon, 93
  5. Crimson Cliffs, 146
  6. Hurricane, 161
  7. Dixie, 190
Runners compete in Region 9 cross-county championships, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2023 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Top 15 boys finishers

  1. Walker Brinkerhoff, Desert Hills, 15:30.91.
  2. Tucker Larsen, Desert Hills, 15:49.02.
  3. Talmage Wright, Pine View, 15:49.13.
  4. Bridger Jaggi, Pine View, 15:54.50.
  5. Ben Norton, Cedar, 16:02.16.
  6. James Butterfield, Snow Canyon, 16:02.62.
  7. Mason Gertsch, Crimson Cliffs, 16:04.50.
  8. George Watkins, Desert Hills, 16:05.27.
  9. Logan Boyer, Desert Hills, 16:07.13.
  10. Jarren Ence, Hurricane, 16:08.08.
  11. Caleb Barrows, Cedar, 16:09.41.
  12. Ben Behunin, Crimson Cliffs, 16:17.56.
  13. Cole Hanson, Cedar, 16:26.22.
  14. Charlie Davidson, Cedar, 16:26.77.
  15. Chase Hansen, Desert Hills, 16:27.05.

Boys team scores

  1. Desert Hills, 35
  2. Cedar City, 59
  3. Pine View, 63
  4. Hurricane, 98
  5. (tie) Snow Canyon, 126
  6. (tie) Crimson Cliffs, 126
  7. Dixie, 220

Photo Gallery

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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