Gardner wins Sanpete Classic as Manti boys place third

ByRobert Stevens

By Robert Stevens

FAIRVIEW — Manti’s Paul Gardner captured the boys varsity title at the Sanpete Classic Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 1, leading a strong showing by Sanpete County runners that also included full varsity teams from North Sanpete and junior varsity competitors from Wasatch Academy.

North Sanpete’s Easton Henrie (No. 2212) runs ahead of Manti’s Porter Worthington (No. 2092) during the boys varsity race at the Sanpete Classic Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 1 in Fairview. Worthington finished 33rd in 18:26, while Henrie placed 38th in 18:36. Photo courtesy of Brandon Norris.
North Sanpete’s Easton Henrie (No. 2212) runs ahead of Manti’s Porter Worthington (No. 2092) during the boys varsity race at the Sanpete Classic Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 1 in Fairview. Worthington finished 33rd in 18:26, while Henrie placed 38th in 18:36. Photo courtesy of Brandon Norris.

Gardner crossed the finish line in 15 minutes, 33 seconds, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Mountain Ridge’s Ty Patterson, who took second in 15:45. Manti Cross Country reported that Gardner’s time appeared to be the fastest ever recorded on the course.

Gardner’s victory helped Manti finish third in the boys varsity team standings with 90 points. Mountain Ridge won the team title with 33 points, followed by Tooele with 69.

Mason Carlile gave Manti another top-15 finish, placing 13th in 16:52. Asher Henry finished 19th in 17:24, Emerson Smith was 24th in 17:40 and Porter Worthington finished 33rd in 18:26 to round out Manti’s five scoring runners.

Porter Rasmussen finished 40th in 18:47, while Micah Andreasen placed 41st in 18:54.

North Sanpete placed seventh in the boys varsity team standings with 210 points. Easton Henrie led the Hawks, finishing 38th in 18:36. Jesse Dyches followed in 39th at 18:39.

Kamden Grasteit placed 42nd in 18:56, Jarrett Sloan finished 43rd in 18:57 and Will Bradley placed 48th in 19:53. Spencer Bradley finished 49th in 20:11.

Mountain Ridge placed five runners among the top 10 to win the boys team title. Tooele finished second, followed by Manti, Canyon View, Richfield, Morgan, North Sanpete and Juab.

On the girls side, North Sanpete’s Meghan Henrie recorded the top finish among Sanpete County runners, placing 23rd in 21:18.

Manti’s Kylie Hart followed in 25th with a time of 21:36. Sariah Peterson placed 27th in 21:49, and Shaelyn Hart finished 34th in 22:11.

Caitlyn Merrill placed 38th for Manti in 22:52, while Melinda Allen finished 39th in 23:01. Those five runners combined to give Manti 163 points and a sixth-place team finish.

Grace Gardner finished 44th in 23:57, and Brooklyn Worthington placed 45th in 24:05.

North Sanpete finished one place behind Manti in seventh with 174 points. Following Henrie, Oakley Sederquist placed 30th in 22:03, Savannah Christensen finished 37th in 22:40, Emily Ashliman placed 41st in 23:13 and Brielle Sorensen finished 43rd in 23:43. Ada Heywood placed 55th in 25:58.

American Fork dominated the girls varsity race, placing five scoring runners among the top nine and winning the team title with 20 points. Skye Jensen won the individual race for American Fork in 18:16.

Canyon View finished second with 61 points, followed by Mountain Ridge with 76, Richfield with 102, Morgan with 133, Manti with 163, North Sanpete with 174 and Tooele with 230.

Sanpete runners also competed throughout the junior varsity races.

In the freshman-sophomore boys race, Manti’s Judah Funk finished 20th in 20:10 and Thomas Gardner placed 23rd in 20:22. Colter Valenzuela finished 66th and Harvey Chaney placed 68th.

Manti runners Paul Gardner and Kyler Shepherd pose with their medals following the Sanpete Classic Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 1 in Fairview. Gardner won the boys varsity race in 15:33, while Shepherd placed 10th in the junior-senior JV race in 19:15. Photo courtesy of Brandon Norris.
Manti runners Paul Gardner and Kyler Shepherd pose with their medals following the Sanpete Classic Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 1 in Fairview. Gardner won the boys varsity race in 15:33, while Shepherd placed 10th in the junior-senior JV race in 19:15. Photo courtesy of Brandon Norris.

North Sanpete fielded five runners in the race and finished seventh as a team with 203 points. Kanyon Madsen led the Hawks in 25th with a time of 20:33, followed by Daegan Smith in 29th at 20:50 and Hunter Martin in 30th at 20:51. Branson Bailey and Guy Smith completed North Sanpete’s scoring lineup.

Manti’s Kyler Shepherd earned a top-10 finish in the junior-senior boys JV race, taking 10th in 19:15. Nathan Smith finished 18th in 20:04, and Seth Smith placed 25th in 20:41.

Wasatch Academy also had three runners in that race. Ferrell Sekaquaptewa led the Tigers with a 15th-place finish in 19:47. Kevin Chen placed 21st in 20:28, and Reagan Cheng finished 36th in 22:26.

Manti placed fifth in the girls JV team standings with 148 points. Famke Piontek led the Templars in 32nd at 25:18, followed by Annika Hyer in 33rd at 25:25 and Malia Evers in 34th at 25:34. Keely Hansen finished 42nd and Vierra Powell placed 44th to complete Manti’s scoring five.

Rachel Beal, April Powell, Bree Lewis and Emily Beal also finished for Manti.

Wasatch Academy’s Finley Tonui finished 80th in the girls JV race with a time of 32:33.

Gunnison Valley did not have any runners listed among the 345 finishers in the official Sanpete Classic results.