If not for an injury and an illness, East's girls cross country team might have been able to challenge eventual state champion Mountain Crest and runner-up Timpview for the 4A crown.
East senior Lauren Spence ran the region championship race and the state meet with a broken bone in her foot. She still managed to place 17th at the state meet at Sugarhouse Park.
Before the final race, top runner Alina Fong came down with an illness, which sapped her energy.
"I think we would have had a better finish," said East coach Mark Oftedal. "Lauren was running with a broken bone in her foot and we didn't really know that."
As things turned out, the Leopards were able to finish third overall, 37 points behind the champion Mustangs.
Still, Oftedal has no complaints about the season his girls put together. East won the Region 6 championship handily over West and found a solid group of talented runners for next year's team.
"We've got some young runners and some talented runners coming back," Oftedal said. "They have nowhere to go but up."
Sophomore Ali Stephens finished the season strong, taking second place at the region final and 11th overall at the 4A championship meet.
Fong, Breanna Cobbler and Megan Brockmeyer are also expected to be standouts next season. Seniors Madison Worsham and Spence leave the program, but the feeling is that next year's team will remain a top contender in the region and the state.
The boys had no seniors on the team, and it showed when they reached pivotal region and state meets. They could only manage a sixth-place finish in the region and 15th at the 4A championship.
In 2005, the boys finished in second place to state champion Provo. That team relied on strong senior leadership from Mike Budge, Jorge Pille and Jeff Combe.
A lack of senior leadership wasn't the only thing they were missing this year. Oftedal, a first-year coach, believes that not being able to work with the boys until midsummer hurt the team's transition to a new program.
"My big challenge next year will be working with the boys," he said.
While young, they have shown promise. Stephon Lesueur should be the top runner, along with Steve Budge and Collin Griffith. Expect Clayton Hurst and Steve Gren to improve for next year as well.
E-mail: tpeterson@desnews.com