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Show Clipper cross country invitational to be held this Saturday By TOM HARALDSEN LA YTON Cross country teams from each of the county's six high schools will compete in the Third Annual Davis County Clipper Invitational In-vitational this Saturday at Layton City Park. The meet will begin with a junior varsity race at 8:30 a.m., followed by varsity girls' and boys' races. Trophies will be awarded to first place teams in varsity competition, along with medals for top ten varsity varsi-ty finishers. With league seasons well underway, under-way, here's a look at each of the four schools and their top runners, beginning with the boys. BOYS PREVIEWS VIEWMONT VIKINGS In the long, proud history of Viewmont High cross country, including in-cluding teams that have won three state championships, this year's team has the potential to be the best ever. Dubois horses have thoroughly dominated competition so far this season, and if all stay healthy, Viewmont should win the state title again this year when the 4A Championships Cham-pionships are held at Sugarhouse Park Oct. 24. Leading the pack are returning seniors Tyler Gledhill, Paul Cutler, Jason Hess and Trevor Willey, part of the pack that placed in a strange seven-way tie for first in a dual meet with Clearfield last week (see separate story). Add to that group junior Scott Keate and sophomores Peter Hew, Jeremy Call and Jed J oh an sen, and the Vikes are very strong. "I'm not sure we've ever had a team quite this deep talent-wise,' Dubois said modestly. To hear opposing op-posing coaches speak of Viemwont, that's understating the fact "Viewmont's very strong, perhaps as fine a team as I've ever seen,' added Roger Burley, Davis' coach who also has a strong team. In short, unless the Vikes suffer illness ill-ness or injury, they'll be very difficult to beat all year. DAVIS DARTS Burley 's team is also talented, though not as deep as Viewmont's, and an injury to junior Mike Sherman Sher-man last Wednesday could be a serious se-rious blow if it's season-ending. Sherman leads a group of runners that includes senior Clark Finlinson, himself coming off an injury from last year, juniors Adam Bennett and Jared Allen, and sophomores Dan Qui st and Mike Hurst. The Darts have also developed a strong tradition under Burley, and look for Davis to be a top 10 team if Sherman can recover. WOODS CROSS WILDCATS The big news at Woods Cross has to be big numbers. Coach Mike Evans welcomed 23 boys out to fall practice this year, the largest number ever for a Wildcat cross country program. And Evans has some very good ones. Senior Matt Brown and juniors Dave Marx and Jason Anderson are all co-captains of the boys, each coming off fine seasons a year ago. Brown and Marx will likely battle it out for the top spot on the team, and Woods Cross should be in the hunt for a state qualifying berth this year. Senior Weston Bishop will join ninth-graders Ryan Borrow man, Andrew Scivally and Doug Marx in the fight for top-five positions. BOUNTIFUL BRAVES Third-year coach Mitch Willey welcomes back senior Brandon Wilding and juniors Lance Palmer and Adam Smith. Wilding was an excellent state performer in track as well, and could be among the best 3-A boys in Utah. Also expected to perform well for Bountiful will be seniors Kevan Whipple and Adam Tolman, junior Chandler Burr and sophomores Dan Messick, Andy Skelton and John Martin. GIRLS' PREVIEWS VIEWMONT VIKINGS The Lady Vikings sport a true all-state candidate in junior Windy Hutchings, a consistent performer the past two years. Beyond that, however, who knows? Junior Julianne Ryan has run very well, and senior Shauri Carting, junior Laurel Ballard, sophomore Jenny Wadley and ninth-grader Chely Giles will score points for the Vikes. DAVIS DARTS The class of Region One females should be the Darts, who suffered a loss to Roy last week when one girl was sick, one was injured and heat became a major challenge. Davis has one of the state's best in junior Sarah Butler, defending girls' champ in the Clipper Invite. She is joined by juniors Dayna Smith (a great track performer last spring) and Sandra Verbroekken, and senior Karen Miller. Junior Ashley Wagner is also expected to do well. Senior Stephanie Begay and junior Leslie Summers will also be a contributing factor to a strong Dart team that is favored for the girls title this Saturday. WOODS CROSS WILDCATS If Davis is to be challenged for the girls' title this weekend, it will probably come from the Lady Wildcats. Despite losing two outstanding performers from last year's team, the 'Cats boast sophomore stars Celeste Smith and Jenny Heap, excellent ninth-graders a year ago. Heap, along with junior co-captains Heidi Selin and Michelle Devey, helps form a powerful contingent of Woods Cross runners. Sophomores Allison Goodrich and Marsey Staynor, along with junior Jenny Los see, will contribute to a fine girls' program at Woods Cross. BOUNTIFUL BRAVES The Lady Braves lost a great runner when sophomore Yvonne Howe transferred to Judge Memorial, but Bountiful got a better runner when senior Misa Graff moved in from Woodbridge, Va. Graff has already paced the Braves in competition this season. She'U be joined by juniors Carolyn Doxey and Elizabeth Mabey, plus first-year-out junior Denece Jacobs. Sophomores Laurel Starkweather, Joy Munns and Tara Weeks will battle with senior Brooke Blair and junior Tonya Wade for the other scoring positions. posi-tions. The public is invited to this Saturday's Sat-urday's meet at the Layton City Park. There is free admission. |
