Placing five runners in the top ten and earning all-conference honors, the Lady Braves claimed their first 4A West Conference title in the program’s history and just the second 4A conference crown since Star Valley moved up to the 4A Class in 2007.  Due to the effort, Coach Ty Draney was named the 4A West Coach of the Year by his peers.

Despite battling the flu bug, the Lady Braves saw all seven varsity participants finish in the top 19 with senior Randi Robinson leading the way and finishing third overall.  Rock Springs’ Nicole Peterson continued her stellar prep career by out-dueling Chelsea Carrick of Natrona for the individual medalist honor.

Brittney Nethercott and Brooke Nethercott finished very strong in fourth and fifth place respectively while freshman phenom, Hailey Ricks showed incredible fortitude despite battling a nasty flu bug to finish eighth overall.  Sophomore Ashley Hall closed with incredible gusto, notching the tenth spot.

Senior Kirsten McKen, who has been slowed all season with an Achilles injury, had her best outing of the season finishing 17th while Abby McArthur also notched a top-20 spot at 19th.

As a team, the Lady Braves scored 30 points, pulling away from Peterson and the Lady Tigers who placed second with 45.  Green River placed third with 82 points while Natrona, Riverton and hometown Evanston rounded out the team scores.

The Braves put together a strong effort but were edged off the podium as they placed a very close fourth.  The I-80 corridor showed their strength again as Green River nipped Natrona for the team title with Rock Springs edging Star Valley for the third place spot.  Riverton and Evanston rounded out the scoring.

Junior Jared Inskeep ran a personal best of 17:40 to place eighth and earn all-conference honors.  Mike Rider, David Livingston, Nathan Merritt and Cody Rich rounded out the varsity five but some of the runners were challenged in the time category by Gabe Waldron who finished fifth in the junior varsity run and Ben Sabat who also had an impressive showing.

The Lady Braves who have now won a program record six event titles this season, will face their stiffest test next week as they try to usurp the crown from Cheyenne Central who is going for their third straight state championship.  The squad placed third last year and five of the top seven runners will return again next season.

 

 The Lady Braves run through Bear River State Park: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download