Cedar High’s ‘All Comers’ invitational meet kicks off cross-country season

Written by Jeff Richards
August 19, 2022

CEDAR CITY — The high school cross-country season kicked off on a soggy note Wednesday evening as Cedar High School hosted its “All Comers” invitational meet.

Cedar High “All Comers” invitational cross country meet, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 17, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

All seven Region 10 high schools participated, plus Canyon View and North Sevier. A total of 453 runners (179 girls and 274 boys) completed the race, according to unofficial stats provided on Thursday by Pine View coach Dave Holt.

The Desert Hills boys and the Pine View girls each took first place in the team standings. The individual race winners were Trey Despain of Pine View and Emma Page of Cedar.

Despain, a senior, led the entire three-mile race before crossing the finish line in 15 minutes, 43 seconds. His time was 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Payton Wilkins of Desert Hills, who finished in 16:06, with Tom Wirthlin of Crimson Cliffs right behind in third place at 16:07.

Nine of the top 10 boys finishers are all 12th graders, with the only exception being junior Walker Brinkerhoff of Desert Hills, who placed seventh overall. He was the third runner to finish for the Thunder, who had five placers among the top 14 spots.

On the girls side, Page, a senior, finished in 18:57, with Addison Pettingill of Desert Hills placing second with a time of 19:10.

However, Pine View had its top five runners all place among the top 12, led by senior Brooklyn Hill, who took fourth overall with a time of 19:21. Right behind her was freshman teammate Emmalee Williams, who placed fifth in 19:25.

Although Desert Hills was the runaway winner of the boys race, the Pine View girls outpaced Cedar by just four points. For the top team scores and top individual placings, see the bottom of this story. For complete meet results, click here.

Cedar High “All Comers” invitational cross country meet, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 17, 2022 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News / Cedar City News

Pine View coach Holt said he’s expecting that Region 10’s runners will once again dominate the 4A classification, just as it did last year. At last year’s state meet, Region 10 had eight of the top 10 individual girls finishers and nine of the top 10 boys. Region 10 also had the top three girls teams and the top five boys teams at state.

Last year’s state championship was the Pine View’s girls third straight title and their fifth in six years. Meanwhile, the Cedar boys also will be looking to repeat last year’s success. The Reds have four returning runners who placed among the top 15 at last year’s state meet, namely Logan Peel, Braxten Gifford, Justin Dodds, and Spencer Heaton.

The next major meet for Southern Utah schools will be the Southern Utah University High School Cross Country Championships, scheduled for the morning of Aug. 27 at Cedar City’s Bicentennial Park. For more information about that upcoming event, click here.

Cedar All Comers Invitational

Wednesday, Cedar High School

Top 4 team results, girls

  1. Pine View, 38.
  2. Cedar, 42.
  3. Desert Hills, 60.
  4. Snow Canyon, 93

Top 10 individual results, girls

  1. Emma Page, Cedar, 18:57.
  2. Addison Pettingill, Desert Hills, 19:10.
  3. Mayce Dalton, Cedar, 19:17.
  4. Brooklyn Hill, Pine View, 19:21.
  5. Emmalee Williams, Pine View, 19:25.
  6. Adri Baker, Pine View, 19:47.
  7. Marisa Oveson, Cedar, 19:50.
  8. Olivia Lay, Desert Hills, 20:03
  9. Amelia Wooley, Desert Hills, 20:03.
  10. Maggie Crosby, Snow Canyon, 20:05.

Top 4 team results, boys

  1. Desert Hills, 40.
  2. Cedar, 85 (wins 6th position tiebreaker).
  3. Snow Canyon, 85.
  4. Pine View, 87.

Top 10 individual results, boys

  1. Trey Despain, Pine View, 15:43.
  2. Payton Wilkins, Desert Hills, 16:06.
  3. Tom Wirthlin, Crimson Cliffs, 16:07.
  4. Seth Armstrong, Hurricane, 16:20.
  5. Luke Ashton, Desert Hills, 16:26.
  6. Braxten Gifford, Cedar, 16:27.
  7. Walker Brinkerhoff, Desert Hills, 16:28.
  8. Finn Lee, Snow Canyon, 16:31.
  9. Spencer Shakespeare, Cedar, 16:32.
  10. Liam Jaussi, Crimson Cliffs, 16:34.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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