Raiders finish 14th at state tournament

LR Cross Country finished the State B race in 14th place in the team standings out of 16 full teams running at Pasco Nov. 8.

With much of the team being new to state, Head Coach Gary Darnold depended on his leaders to calm the jitters.

"We had three of the 11 returning from the state meet last year," Darnold said, "and I depended heavily on them to give their advice from their state experience, and they really came through."

Darnold enjoyed seeing the team perform to the best of their abilities. "For six of them to PR showed all how they responded to the pressure of the big race," he said. "They stepped up to the competition."

Eighth-grader Loryn Moore was the only Raider girl running at state this year. Moore finished her first state race in 22 minutes, 7 seconds for 38th place out of sixty-six girls.

Out of 166 boys finishing this year, Raider Chris Oates finished 35th to lead the Raiders with a personal record time of 17:30.

Ray Yazzie, in his final high school race, finished 59th with a PR of 18:08. Robert George improved his PR time to 18:59 and finished 85th overall.

Cameron Tillman came close to his desired time of 20 minutes flat at state. Tillman finished 113th with a PR of 20:18. Will Friedlander finished 116th, only one second behind Tillman with a new PR of 20:19.

Cole Trotter was next for the Raiders, finishing 131st in 21:06. Kaden Trotter was the final Raider to complete the course in 21:37 for 135th.

"It is especially rewarding for me to see the pride the families have in their young runners after their races, congratulating them with the hugs they need and deserve, after putting in their best effort in the state race," Darnold commented. "This is one of my favorite parts of coaching Cross Country, it gives me a good feeling that you can't get from any other job."

The coach summed up the 2014 season with praise for his young team. "Cross Country was a new experience for 80 percent of the team," Darnold said. "So they found out that week after week they could get more out of themselves, as shown by the continual PRs set by most of the runners throughout the season. I really respect their willingness to put in hard work to get results like what many accomplished this season by qualifying for state."

Darnold is excited about next season, when he expects to see many returners. "With eight of the 11 being new to CC this year, it was nice to hear a lot of 'next year' from them," he said.

Of the runners at state, Yazzie was the only senior. And with a strong JV team this season, 2015 looks bright for the Raider boys.

The girls team did not have a senior, and with other runners having the opportunity to return from injuries, the Raider girls look to have a full team in 2015.