AMERICAN FORK ?— Most high school cross-country meets don't include hay bales strewn across pieces of the course. Most meets are also not run relay-style or two miles in length.
These unique aspects of the American Fork Grass Relays have made it a popular event that continues to grow, even into its 15th year.
"Years ago, one of our former runners wanted to have a race of this format, so we tried it and it's just grown," said American Fork girls cross-country coach Bruno Hunziker, mentioning that 43 schools participated this year. "We usually average about 30 teams so this is the biggest year by far. All the major schools are here."
Underclassmen competitors circled the same one-mile loop twice, running individually and all starting in a pack as they would in a typical race. Varsity runners, however, grouped into teams of five and ran the course as a relay.
The winners of the girls race, four seniors and a speedy sophomore from Davis High who finished in 1:04:42, said they liked the variety of a different race style but it also added a challenge.
"I missed running with the team," said Annie Andersen, who ran the first leg for the Darts. "We are such pack runners."
Meghan Hedquist anchored the Davis team and had more than two minutes between her and second-place Alta during her final lap. "They (my team) got me a really good lead. I just focused on lapping people."
Hedquist, who had the fifth-best individual time (12:44), passed four other schools before she reached the finish line. The first place boys squad, host American Fork, which is ranked No. 1 nationally by ESPN, also lapped some of the competition en route to its course record-breaking finish of 52:14.
"We broke the record by about 40 seconds," said senior Derek Day. "It's hard to run without your team, so we used them (people passed on the course) as motivation to pull us forward."
All five Cavemen runners finished in the top 15 individual times. Austin West led the entire pack with a race-best time of 10:02. Teammate and relay anchor Clayton Young was third overall with a time of 10:09 while Ashenafe Richardson (10:27), Mack Morrison (10:38) and Day (10:48) were fifth, seventh and 12th, respectively.
"Lately, we've had really good luck with really good athletes," Hunziker said of how well the defending state champion Cavemen have been running.
The Davis and Bingham relay teams rounded out the top three on the boys' side with times of 54:33 and 55:56. Dallin Taylor of Hunter had the second-best individual time (10:09) and Spencer Hansen of Maple Mountain was fourth (10:22).
Shae Martinez, a sophomore on the Davis squad, was the first-place girl with a time of 12:33. Brookayla Nelson (12:28) and Tori Parkinson (12:31), both representing Mountain Crest, rounded out the top three. The Alta relay team crossed the finish line with a time of 1:06:48 and Park City was third in 1:06:54.
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