Bob Firman Invitational (ID)
RESULTS
ON-SITE COVERAGE COMING SOON
Great Oak Clashes With Utah's Finest
The No. 1 ranked Great Oak girls of California came out on top in their cross-country trip to the Bob Firman Invitational in Idaho with 43 points, though Utah powers American Fork (ranked No. 7) and Davis (ranked No. 17) made it a tough battle, scoring 77 points and 83 points, respectively.
Courtney Wayment of Davis was a surprise individual winner, racing 17:56.4 for 5k to continue her dominant senior year. Piper Meuwissen of Bozeman finished second in 18:01.9, a big win over a stacked field that included the ranked teams mentioned above, as well as 2014 Foot Locker finalist Bryn Morley (fourth, 18:11.5).
Junior Evelyn Mandel was the top finisher for Great Oak, placing sixth in 18:13.6 as the squad packed their top five scorers into the top 20 overall finishers with an impressive 37-second spread. They benefited especially from the return of No. 3 ranked Destiny Collins, who debuted this season with a ninth-place, 18:39.7 run after an extended track season that saw her compete in July at the IAAF World Youth Championships in the 3000m.
You wish you were part of the pack @evelynbmandel @SkyBollinger @ricenicki @milesplit @MilesplitCA @DyeStat pic.twitter.com/1MtEYHTItO
-- Desiree (@DesiStinger) September 26, 2015American Fork had a similar spread, but each runner finished just behind their Great Oak counterpart. Transfer Sara Mussleman was the top runner in eighth (18:39.4) as the Cavemen ran a 38-second top five spread and 18:58 average.
Ogden senior Alek Parsons continued his nearly flawless season with a 15:16.7 win. Will Handley and Spencer Dodds battled right behind with team title and national rankings implications on the line, as Handley took runner-up honors (15:17.3) and Woodbridge champion Dodds was third (15:19.5).
The boys' team race was even closer than the girls', as Handley's unranked Timpanogos squad of Utah scored 104 points to finish just ahead of No. 3 ranked Great Oak (106 points) and No. 5 ranked Davis (109 points). Timpanogos averaged 15:58 over the 5k course with a 62-second spread, as they pulled off the win thanks to packing in just slightly tighter than Great Oak (15:57 avg, 65-second spread) and Davis (16:00 avg, 60-second spread).
Saucony Flo50 National XC Rankings: