Ranger cross country ready to race

 By Esther Noe 

 

The Hill City High School Ranger cross country team is ready for another season, and head coach Joe Noyes is returning for his 10th year. He is once again assisted in coaching by his brother, Jared Noyes. 

“I’m really excited. I’ve said it 100 times, but I love Hill City, love our students, our athletes, our parents and our school administration. As I’m getting back into the school year, I’m just so convinced that we’ve got a great thing going here because of the excitement, the energy around our school, around our athletics and around our program. So happy to be back and can’t wait to see what these kids do,” said Noyes. 

This year there are 20 athletes on the cross country team, which is comparable to the last few years. 

“We’ve got a good returning group of kids who have been running since June 9. We’re excited for the season,” Noyes said. 

The boys team includes Brandon Escalante (senior), Tate Grabow (junior), James Dubois (junior), Max Rupert (junior), Aiden Williams (junior), Cameron Conaway (sophomore), John Titus Isakson (eighth grade) and newcomer Barrett Bush (sophomore). 

“We’ve got seven boys competing for six spots. That’s what you want. You want a competitive team of boys pushing each other trying to make it on the team for the championship season, and that’s kind of a formula for being successful,” Noyes said. 

Meanwhile, the girls team includes Paiton Flick (senior), Brooke Thayer-Burke (junior), Jaelyn Peters (junior), Jordan Duprey (junior), Aspen Veneklasen (sophomore), Aliyah Peters (freshman), Phoebe Bentley-Buschur (freshman), Hadley Walker (eighth grade), Emmersyn Flick (eighth grade) and newcomer Rarity Cournoyer (sophomore).

Of those 10 girls, nine of them have run on a state team before, and six of them will get to compete at state this year.

“As a program, that’s what you want. That’s how you build good teams is when they’re competing every day against each other at practice knowing what’s on the line,” said Noyes. 

So far practice is going great, Noyes said. Athletes have needed some easy reminders, but the work they put in over the summer is showing. One potential weakness Noyes sees is the attitude of the athletes. He wants to see them hold themselves to a high standard and become the best versions of themselves. 

“I always say the best compliment I can give kids is if I never hear complaining, and I’ve got none of it yet,” said Noyes. 

A strength Noyes sees is the athletes’ toughness, coupled with their commitment to their craft. 

“I think we have two teams, a boys team and a girls team, that can contend to place at the state meet. The girls I think top six, and the boys I think top three. And those kids know that,” said Noyes.

Noyes also thinks Escalante and Grabow could contend for a state title, saying, “They’re both that good, and they’re both that tough. We’ve said it, and now it’s just kind of on them to put this work in, to trust in what we’re doing and then just go reap the benefits on race day.”

The first meet of the year for the Rangers is the Douglas Early Bird Invitational Cross Country Meet at Prairie Ridge Golf Course in Box Elder Friday, Aug. 30. This is a junior high and high school meet so all the athletes will get to compete. 

“The first race of the year is always a good one because the kids have some jitters—‘Do I still got it? Am I in shape?’ As coaches, we’re watching stuff at practice, and we’re like, ‘yes, you do. Yes, you do.’ But until you get in that live action, that live experience you don’t really know as an athlete where you’re at,” said Noyes. 

The results should indicate where the athletes are ready and where they need to put in more work.