SALT LAKE CITY — Nationally acclaimed runner Lucy Biles established her place in 4A cross country, when the sophomore picked up the individual state title with a time of 17:49.6.
Biles got the best of Orem senior Summer Harper, who ended her cross country career with a third-place finish on Wednesday.
"I've always wanted to be Summer (Harper). She's kind of my idol, and it's really great to see my name up there with hers," said Biles.
Miranda O'Very crossed the finish line for a second-place finish, while her fellow Mountain Crest teammates Tori Parkinson, Brooke Nelson and Kacie Labrum all managed to finish in the top 10 of the 4A three-mile race.
The Mustangs claimed the team title, which head coach Mary Kirby credited to the girls' performance on Wednesday afternoon.
"Everybody just performed well on this given day," said Kirby. "Meaning last year we had one or two that had off days, which happens at a lot of races, and I have nothing against that for anybody. For us this year, they all stepped up this race."
Jacob Heslington picked up his second consecutive individual title for Timpanogos, which alleviated the pressure that Heslington felt in the days leading up to the three-mile race.
"It's been a big stress lately with all of the pressure, so it's just great to finally be done," said Heslington.
The Herriman boys brought the first state title to the two-year-old school. Rory Linkletter and Chuk Mitchell finished fourth and fifth, just nine seconds apart to pave the way to the team championship.
"We knew we were going to be good this year. Herriman has been open for two years, but this is a great group of guys, and they've worked hard to get the result today," said Barnes. "We just wanted to win it. We didn't run our best race today, but we knew if we ran 'normal' that we could pull it off."
Bonneville finished just a half second out of first place. Barnes credited his team's depth for the narrow victory.
"It came down to depth. We were deep through all seven, and that was huge for us today," said Barnes.
The Mustangs will lose half of their squad to graduation, but for coach Barnes and his staff that made the move from Riverton to open a new program in the southwest end of the valley, they hope the success continues.
"We have a great group of young kids, and it's fun because that was the goal when they opened Herriman a few years ago," said Barnes. "We'd been at Riverton and won some titles in track, and all of us came over to Herriman to create a dynasty and be good all of the time."
EMAIL: cjohnson@desnews.com
Class 4A State Cross Country Meet
At Sugarhouse Park
Boys team scores
1. Herriman, 68; 2. Bonneville, 68; 3. Mountain View, 118; 4. Timpanogos, 139; 5. Orem, 194; 6. Westlake, 217; 7. Sky View, 220; 8. Woods Cross, 255.
Boys individual results
1. Jacob Eslington, Timpanogos, 15:06.9
2. Jerrell Mock, Logan, 15:07.8
3. Conner Mantz, Sky View, 15:17.8
4. Rory Linkletter, Herriman, 15:23.0
5. Chuk Mitchell, Herriman, 15:30.7
6. Cade Perry, Bonneville, 15:39.1
7. Adam Hendrickson, Box Elder, 15:48.1
8. Matt Owens, Orem, 15:56.0
9. Jaydn Asay, Mountain View, 15:57.2
10. Tomy Gutierrez, East, 15:58.7
11. Austin Brower, Westlake, 16:03.4
12. Jared Seachris, Bonneville, 16:04.2
13. Kyle Bunker, Orem, 16:04.5
14. Connor Jones, Herriman, 16:04.7
15. Colby Myers, Bonneville, 16:06.6
16. Owen Gardner, Springville, 16:09.3
17. Sam Sorensen, Mountain View, 16:10.3
18. Andy Penman, Bonneville, 16:11.4
19. Gabe Adams, Provo, 16:11.8
20. Marcus Lindmeir, Bountiful, 16:13.2
Girls team scores
1. Mountain Crest, 40; 2. Orem, 100; 3. Skyline, 120; 4. Maple Mountain, 137; 5. Herriman, 164; 6. Timpanogos, 172; 7. Salem Hills, 176; 8. Provo, 195.
Girls individual results
1. Lucy Biles, Herriman, 17:49.6
2. Miranda O'Very, Mountain Crest, 18:14.7
3. Summer Harper, Orem, 18:34.3
4. Tori Parkinson, Mountain Crest, 18:37.1
5. Britney Lund, Maple Mountain, 18:44.9
6. Brooke Nelson, Mountain Crest, 18:47.3
7. Hannah Malone, Box Elder, 18:48.5
8. Jeni Townsend, Skyline, 18:55.9
9. Candace Greenwood, Orem, 18:57.1
10. Kacie Labrum, Mountain Crest, 18:57.3
11. Kami Harley, Herriman, 19:00.4
12. Mary Christensen, Timpanogos, 19:07.0
13. Abigail Hurst, East, 19:10.7
14. Sierra Malm, Salem Hills, 19:17.4
15. Caroline Weiler, Skyline, 19:19.1
16. Ashley Runyan, Orem, 19:20.0
17. Millika Holbrook, Woods Cross, 19:20.8
18. Taylor Jolley, Mountain View, 19:27.0
19. Amanda Turnbell, Mountain View, 19:31.4
20. Elizabeth Cook, Mountain Crest, 19:35.1