Difficult course, hot temperatures test runners

Cross country runners from schools around the Treasure Valley faced hot temperatures and a challenging course as the Wolverines hosted the Weiser Invitational on Thursday.
 The 5K race was held at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Weiser, a hilly yet scenic course. The temperature at race time for the varsity boys and girls events was around 88 degrees. The varsity girls got started at about 5:45 p.m., followed by the varsity boys.
 Weiser coach Scott Hale said the combination of the late afternoon heat and running one of the most challenging courses around likely cost runners some time.
 “Under normal circumstances (a flatter course and cooler temperatures) each runner most likely would have run at least a minute faster than they did,” he said.
 For the varsity boys, two runners posted sub-18-minute times to set the pace. Melba’s Josh Leavitt won the race with a time of 17:42.70. Brody Kemble of Middleton took second place with a time of 17:55.27
 Melba also placed first in the team scoring, followed by Victory Charter in second place and Middleton in third place. Weiser placed fifth, ahead of Vale and Four Rivers.
 Two Weiser boys cracked the top 21 out of a field of 50 competitors in the varsity race. Junior Tyler Walker led the Wolverines and finished 20th with a time of 21:17.06. Senior Nate Lattin finished right behind him in 21st place with a time of 21:26.52. Lattin’s time on the Weiser course was about one minute slower than he ran as the season opener last week at Bishop Kelly.
 Weiser’s Colton Foster finished near the middle of the pack and posted a time of 21:57.68. Senior Michael Despain clocked a time of 23:00.42.
 Other Wolverines finishing the race included Colyer Chandler, who posted a time of 23:30.78. Freshman Ben Hathhorn crossed the finish line in 26:31.09.
 Hale said Chandler has made a huge improvement in his running over last year. His finish at the Weiser Invitational last week was more than five minutes faster than his finish in the same race in 2018.
 “As a sophomore, it looks like he is making major progress, especially in the grit category. It was hot last year as well, but Colyer was able to run through it this year,” Hale said.
 For the Weiser varsity girls, senior Ellie Walker finished in 16th place out of a field of 31 runners with a time of 26:02.25. Other finishers for Weiser included Libbie Rynearson (27:55.51), Stephanie Bodgett (28:03.99), Kiearra Hoobery (28:13.85), Ashlyn Walker (28:48.01), Emily Abramson (28:50.15), Ellie Eames (29:22.22).
 Middleton’s Kaylee Austin won the girls event with a time of 21:58.27. The runner-up was Tri-Valley’s Emma Hollon, who posted a time of 22:34.09.
 Middleton had the top team score, followed by Melba, Vale and Weiser.
 The Weiser cross country team will travel to Nyssa for the Nyssa Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 11.
 The Wolverines opened the 2019 cross country season last week at the Jimmy Driscoll Invitational held at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise.

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