Men’s Cross Country ranked sixth at State on October 30, followed by the women’s team ranking fourteenth. For the men’s team, this marks the highest score at State in at least a decade. Both teams aimed for higher scores, but it ultimately came down to individual runners peaking at different times throughout the season. “I had some individual performances that were good, but I just didn’t have everybody’s best at the same time which is probably the most difficult thing to be able to do,” Coach Tom Porter said.
Another challenge that might’ve played a role in lower scores was the change in course from previous years. Porter explained, “We had the course moved back to Sugarhouse Park this year for the first time since COVID.” Sugarhouse Park has more difficult terrain than the pandemic course, with hills rather than a flat and grassy path. “This was different for those that had not had the opportunity to be able to race there before,” he said. However, he added, “I think that it’s a challenge that we’ll look forward to having. We like being down at Sugarhouse Park again; it feels more like Cross Country.”
These challenges are why some runners didn’t do as well as they hoped. One of these runners was Hallee Sullivan, who had been projected to be in the top five at State but ended up ranking fifteenth. “People that she had beaten two weeks earlier were in the top five. […] It just kind of didn’t end up being her day,” Porter explained. Sullivan’s sister, Captain Sophie Sullivan, had also been expecting a better race. She said, “It wasn’t horrible. It’s just not what I wanted, like I was fifteen spots behind where I should have been.” Still, she was proud of her teammates, as many made new personal records at State. She explained, “It was really cool because that wasn’t even our whole varsity team, because a lot of our girls are injured right now, so it’s cool that we had our backups come in and run really good.”
The men’s side also had some lower than hoped for rankings. Captain Jonah Fearnley said, “I was trying to run sub sixteen and break into the top ten. I ended up finishing in fifteenth, so it was a little lower than I’d hoped, but I’m still pretty happy about it, because this is the most competitive our state has been in a long time.” This seemed to also be the case for their overall ranking: good, but not quite what they were hoping for. “We kind of felt like we had the possibility to go top three for the boys,” Porter explained. “We kind of knew it was going to be anywhere from one to six, so we just came out a little bit on the back end but still had a good season.”
The season prior to State had some amazing races for the team. The men’s team won first place at Region. Porter said, “That was the first boys Region championship too in over 10 years, and so that was a big accomplishment for them to be able to do that, and it kind of shows the hard work from those individuals.” At the competition, Skyline initially tied with Alta. Fearnley explained, “Our sixth runner had come in before Alta’s, so we won the tiebreaker, and that was just like the highlight of my life. I was so stoked. It was crazy.”
Another exciting race was in Boise, Idaho. “We had a really good race there; I had a really good race there too. I ran like 20 seconds faster than my fastest time in Idaho, so that was really fun for me,” Sophie Sullivan said. Fearnley mentioned that the race was one of his favorites of the season, partially because it’s one of the races they get to travel for.
One of the other races the team gets to travel for is the last of the season: a post-season race in California. For this race, a selected few Cross Country runners compete at a national level in December after five additional weeks of practice. “It kind of gives them some more exposure; For those who are wanting to run in college, there’s a lot of college coaches that are looking at these races,” Porter explained. For this reason, Seniors have more priority in being selected for the trip.
After this race, the team will be on break until Track and Field season starts in January. Looking back at State, Porter feels a little bittersweet knowing it’s the second to last Cross Country race for the Seniors. “I’m excited for, you know, their futures, but, at the same time, I’ll be sad they’re not around,” he expressed. The Seniors understand the feeling as well. Sophie Sullivan stated, “It’s crazy; It went so fast. […] It’s just been a really fun four years—probably the most memorable four years of my life.”
