Whitney Orton of Panguitch won the 2012 XC State Championship, and is favored again in 2013- photo by Kyle Perry
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The Cross Country Season comes to it’s peak this week, with the 2013 Utah State XC Championships. Everyone has worked all season long to be their best on this single day in late October. When the gun goes off at 11 AM Wednesday morning, the 1A girls will begin their quest to etch their names in coveted archive of state champions. Only one individual and one team per classification can ever earn the title of 2013 state XC champion. Winning a state championship is truly the pinnacle of the sport within the state. In fact, more people will summit Everest this year than will be crowned a Utah State Champion. Being a state champion is rarified air. I do have a tendency to ramble, but the point I am trying to make is, this is it!
For the 1A Boys, Monticello won the Championship last season, and they are the favorite to repeat. They return a pack of 5 runners that helped win the team championships last season. Their group of 5 was a very tight pack last season. Finishing 11th through 15th at state, they didn’t allow anyone between their underclassman pack. They will look to remain a tight pack this season and put all 5 runners in the top 10-15 again, this will be enough for them to hold off any challenging teams. Panguitch looks to be pretty good as well. They have the ability to keep a fairly low score as well.
There were a lot of underclassmen near the front of the pack last season, with only 4 of the top 10 graduating. Kyler Norris of Panguitch and Ethan Young of Milford are the top 2 returners from last season. Young beat out Norris by 4 seconds last season for 2nd overall, and will hope to hold off Norris again as these two could very well battle for the 1A overall title.
Last season, Whitney Orton of Panguitch was absolutely dominant. As a freshman, Orton won the XC state title, as well as three state titles on the track. She was only 15 seconds off the freshman record for 1A last season with her time of 19:18, and this season she will look to take down the sophomore record of 18:48. Her team also looks to repeat as the team champions, and will have a pretty good chance at doing so. Monticello will look to beat out Panguitch. Monticello is coming off a win at their region championships and will look to carry that momentum on to state.
There were 5 Teams that qualified a full team for both girls and boys including Altamont, Bryce Valley, Monticello, Panguitch, and Tintic.