| Melanie Madsen runs for the finish line as her teammates cheer her on during Carbon’s cross country meet in Price earlier this year. Madsen lead the team by finishing in first place at the Region 8 championship last week. |
The Carbon Dinos traveled to Delta last week to compete in the annual Region 8 cross country championships.
When the Dinos arrived, they found out that the course was extended approximately 3.1 miles. This was due to the fact that the region athletes had run the course two weeks earlier and finished with faster times than was thought to be possible. Despite this fact, the Dino runners were ready for the challenge.
Melanie Madsen led the girls race from start to finish according to assistant coach, Stewart Foster.
“Melanie increased her lead little by little until she finished the race with a 50 second lead over the second place girl from North Sanpete High School,” explained Foster.
The Carbon girls team finished in second place as a team which qualified the top seven female runners for the state championships later this week.
Ashley Anderson ran a strong race and finished in seventh place. Anderson was followed by Elizabeth Brooks who completed the event in 10th place.
All three girls received medals for finishing in the top 10.
Brittany Horrocks placed 14th and was followed by Mikaleen Loveless in 19th place and Brittney Banning in 23rd.
Jana Burrows was Carbon’s seventh runner and finished the competition in 27th place.
Janelle Bates finished in 31st place at region while Sabrina Pons finished in 34th place.
North Sanpete took home the first place finish in the girls event while Delta finished in third place behind Carbon and Emery finished in fourth place while Lehi rounded out the region standings in fifth place.
Foster explained that the boys team was expected to finish in last place this year in region.
Although this was a rebuilding year for the boys, coach Elias Perez challenged the team members to make it to state as a team. The athletes rose to the challenge and finished in third place as a team thus qualifying the top seven runners for the state event.
David Goodrich placed seventh overall and was followed by Paul Goodrich in eighth place.
“Paul challenged David for the last 600 yards,” explained Foster. “David told himself that no little brother was going to beat him no matter how tired he was. David just barely beat Paul by one second at the finish line.”
Carbon’s third runner was Zac Burdick who finished in 12th place after passing five runners in the last 400 yards.
The fourth runner was Bo Christensen who placed 23rd and was followed by Tyler Munns in 33rd place.
Jacob Perez completed the race in 47th place and Kellen Spillman finished in 51st place.
Rounding out the Dinos roster was Joe Harber who placed 54th, Kerry Powell in 59th place and Ty Wells in 63rd place.
Following the event, Madsen and Harber received awards for gaining all-region academic status as an athlete and a scholar combined.
The state championships will take place October 22 at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City where the Dinos hope to make a strong impression.