YHS girls ninth at state cross country

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Yuma High School’s cross country runners got a taste for what it’s like to compete at the state championships, last Saturday.
The YHS girls team and one from the boys’ team competed in the Class 2A Cross Country Championships at the Norris Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs.

A total of 15 schools had qualified as a team for state. Yuma’s girls cracked the top 10, finishing ninth in the team standings with 151 points.
Buena Vista won the girls team title with a score 31, well ahead of Lake County with 31. Lyons, whom the Indians beat last week at regional, placed third with 93. Wray also qualified as a team, placing 11th with 157 points.
Senior Shelby Blach went out for cross country for the first time this year when volleyball was

Senior Shelby Blach, in her only season running cross country, led the YHS girls to a ninth-place team finish at the Class 2A Championship, last Saturday in Colorado Springs. (Dave Gustafson)
delayed until the second semester. She made the most of her one and only year in the sport, leading the Indians at state by placing 39th with a time of 23 minutes, 0.3 seconds. Sophomore Hailey Eyring placed 46th in 23:34.8. Freshman Ashley Ibanez was 54th in 24:01. Sophomore Lea Richardson covered the course in 24:40.9 to place 71st, and Samantha Wells was 87th in 26:51.5
Two schools from Yuma’s region swept the top spots in the boys team standings, Heritage Christian winning the team title with 54 points, and Lyons finishing second with 59.
Javier Duran represented YHS in the boys race. The sophomore posted one of his slower times this season, placing 75th with a time of 20:15.7.