Burlington Cross Country with a solid start in Billings

The Huskies’ Cross Country team has their first week in the books with the Middle School competing in Cody on Thursday and the High School team running in Billings on Friday. “I feel our kids came out of their first MS and HS cross country meets feeling like our hard work has been paying off,” said Coach Ryan Olson. 

On Thursday in Cody, after a short rain delay, 7th grader Hailee McNiven, took first on the girls’ side and 7th grader Kaleb Christopherson placed 5th and 8th grader Bret Winters placed 8th. “There were some great first-time performances by our 6th grade boys. Sometimes it’s a learning process at a race, figuring out how to pace yourself and running in a large group, but they did a really nice job.” 

Friday brought the Huskies to Billings and over 1000 competitors. “The weather in Billings was perfect. There were more teams there than ever before, and the extra competition led to some great performances. Kellen Winters ran a really fast first mile and ended up finishing under 16 minutes, the fastest time in the state right now. We’re looking to replace a couple of All-State runners from last year and Spencer Hamilton and Jaxon Buck are working to fill that role. Kelli McNiven finished in the top 5 in the women’s division, which was extremely competitive this year.” 

The Middle School will compete in Lovell on Thursday, and the High School will travel to Buffalo on Friday. “Our focus this week will be hills, as we hope to tackle a couple of nice uphill climbs these next couple of meets,” said Olson. 

CODY RESULTS

MS GIRLS 3000 METER – 1, Hailey McNiven, 11:07.98. 48, Vanessa Winters, 15:14.53. 

MS BOYS 3000 METER – 5, Kaleb Christopherson, 11:08.76. 8, Bret Winters, 11:20.22. 14, Davin Buck, 12:00.46. 21, Warren Eardley, 12:32.78. 22, Benton Bullinger, 12:34.54. Ben Casey, 13:40.42. 60, Charles McNiven, 14:47.42. 69, Orrin Foster, 15:11.64. 

BILLINGS INVITATIONAL RESULTS 

JV BOYS 5000 METER – 68, Jaxon Buck, 20:14.46. 121, Spencer Hamilton, 21:08.44. 201, Bryant Casey, 22:38.79. 251, Brian O’Barr, 24.08.72. 252, Tanner Dunlap, 24:17.07. 323, Jackson Olson, 33:49.10. 

VARSITY BOYS 5000 METER – 5, Kellen Winters, 15:58.20. 46, Connor Hoyt, 17:19.42. 68, James McNiven, 17:52.78. 

JV GIRLS 5000 METER – 61, Natalie McNiven, 24:20.08. 

VARSITY GIRLS 5000 METER – 15, Kelli McNiven, 19:19.77.