OREM — It's something that cross country coaches tell their runners all the time, and almost a cliche — the sixth and seventh runners are just as important to a team's performance as the top five scoring runners. Saturday, it proved true once again at the Orem Kiwanis Invitational on the campus of UVSC.
Davis and Rock Springs, Wyo., finished tied in the 5A race with 35 points, so the decision went to a tiebreaker — the top finish of each team's sixth finisher. In this case, Davis' Richie Whicker finished well ahead of the Tigers' Taylor McCort, 30 places higher as a matter of fact, and the Darts took the boys' team title.
Nationally third-ranked Fremont easily dusted all comers in 5A girls to win that title, while individual wins in the top division went to Zack Reiter of Rock Springs and Cassie Ricks of Fremont.
Orem won the boys and girls 4A titles, while winners in the combined 1A-3A class were Judge Memorial's boys and girls.
Rock Springs entered the race ranked 17th nationally, and Reiter is a big reason why. The senior dashed across the course in a time of 15:58.1, more than a minute faster than his 22nd place finishing time last year.
"I didn't get the greatest start, but I caught up to the leaders after about a mile, and just worked from there," he said. "I'm in much better shape than I was here a year ago, and this is a great meet for us. We wish we could have taken on Mountain View, but their boys weren't running today."
Reiter pulled away from Viewmont's Kyle McKenna and Davis' Jared Ward. His teammate, Greg Griffith, was fourth, while Davis' Patrick Hall was fifth. Still, it took the finish of Whicker to make the difference in the team event. Timpanogos was third at 111 points.
"You always tell the kids that even though we only score the top five, they all need to do well to succeed. That was true today," Davis coach Roger Buhrley said.
In the 4A race, Lehi's Chris Dorton ran to a 30 second victory over Murray's Colton McComb. Actually, all varsity boys run the same race, but results are broken down and trophies and medals awarded based on school classification. Orem won the team title paced by Race Ostler and Daniel Urquhart, who finished third and fourth respectively. Lehi's Jesse Turner was fifth.
Judge Memorial was also an easy winner in the 1A-3A combined standings, as Luke Puskedra, Nick Gaitan and Andrew Hirning finished one-two-three respectively for the Bulldogs. Jordan Snyder of North Summit was fourth and Richfield's Drake Mason fifth.
Ricks led the Fremont girls' team to an expected dominant victory in 5A girls. She battled Judge Memorial star Samantha Gaffney the entire way, even after Gaffney fell just after the start of the race and had to get up and make up time.
"I love competing with her because she's such a great runner," Ricks said. "My goal was to stay with her the entire race and be competitive. She always pushes me to run my best, and I thank God for helping me out here today."
Ricks finished at 18:37.8, nine seconds ahead of Gaffney, who was first among the 1A-3A finishers. Rock Springs' Ashlen Nimmo was second in 5A, followed by Candace Eddy of Davis, Kacee Hildebrant of Lone Peak and Natalie Haws of Davis. Mountain View was second as a team, followed by Alta.
Orem's Krystal Harper won the 4A race at 19:00.0, helping the Tigers to the team title. Teammates Kendy Christensen and Kate Harline were second and third, respectively, with Monique Torres of Murray fourth and East's Lauren Spence fifth. Gaffney was followed in the 1A-3A division by Wasatch's Kaylee Collins, her Judge teammates Hailey Knettles and Samantha McMillan, and Wasatch's Madalyn Olpin in fifth.
JUAN DIEGO FALL CLASSIC: At Draper, Bingham's boys and Jordan's girls won team titles at the Juan Diego races. Taylorsville's Aaron Clements won the boys' race at 16:11.6 for 5K, with Juan Diego's Kyle Jarrett second and Bingham's Alex Weber third. The Miners held off Copper Hills for the boys' crown.
Jordan's Adam Norris was fourth, and Devan Antczak of Bingham fifth.
Kim Quinn, a junior at Bingham, won the girls' varsity race in 19:30.8 seconds. Jordan runners Samantha Robinson, Erin Fuller, Stephanie Burt and Maggie Reid placed second through fifth to lead the Beetdiggers to the team title. Aimee Haertel of Jordan was seventh overall, as the Diggers scored just 21 points. Copper Hills was second at 68.
Now that weekend invitationals have ended, all runners prepare for region competitions that lead up to the state championships at Sugar House Park on Oct. 19.