The Ryan Cowgirl cross country squad continues its impressive march through the season as they won two meet titles in two days and claimed a runner-up finish last Monday.
Last Friday the fifth-ranked Cowgirls held off Merritt and Waurika to claim the team crown at Frederick.
The next day, the Cowgirls added another team title by outlasting Velma-Alma and Waurika and successfully defending the title won in 2017 at Healdton.
On Monday, the Cowgirls traveled to Sulphur and finished second to Class 4A’s fifth-ranked Pauls Valley squad. The Lady Panthers had 30 points, while Ryan finished with 64 points.
Another impressive feat by the Cowgirls in these three meets in four days is a different runner paced the team in each of the races.
Lilybet Harmon was the top finisher for the Cowgirls at Sulphur. She finished the 2.2-mile course in 15:33.76 and finished seventh overall. The time set a school record for this distance (not many meets run a 2.2-mile course) set a year ago at the same meet by Holland Carter, who ran a 16:18.79 time.
Not far behind Harmon was Lily York. She finished 10th with a time of 15:52.40.
Juliet Spangler was 12th in the race with a time of 15:58.18 and Carter was 16th with a time of 16:22.49. Katelyn Dabbs recorded a 26th-place finish and a time of 17:38.15.
Alicen Williams finished 41st in the race that featured 64 runners.
Last Saturday at Healdton it was Spangler leading the way for the Cowgirls on the 3,200-meter course in claiming the team title.
Spangler finished third in the individual race and Harmon was right behind in fourth place. Carter was sixth, Dabbs finished seventh and York was eighth giving the Cowgirls four top 10 finishers.
Williams rounded out the Cowgirl competitors by finishing just one spot from earning a medal as she recorded a 26th-place finish.
Times were not available for the meet at Frederick or Saturday’s competition at Healdton.
At Healdton it was Dabbs, a freshman, claiming her best finish of the season. Dabbs nabbed fifth place in the race and Harmon and Spangler were right behind at sixth and seventh place, respectively.
York finished in 10th place, while Carter came in 12th place. Williams finished 30th in the competition.
Sixth place in a team race is not normally considered a very impressive finish, but for the Ryan Cowgirls’ sixth-place finish at Velma-Alma’s cross country meet a week ago Tuesday was quite a performance.
The five teams that finished in front of the Cowgirls were all Class 4A teams and all of them are ranked among the top 11 in that class in the state. It was an extremely competitive meet in the high school girls’ division with 23 teams and over 200 runners entered in the meet.
Ryan finished with 202 points, which was well behind Ardmore Plainview’s meet-winning total of 49 points. Tuttle finished fifth ahead of the Cowgirls with 156 points.
Another indication the meet was a tough one was despite the sixth-place team finish, none of the Cowgirls earned a medal by finishing in the top 25.
Spangler led the Cowgirls’ effort and finished just out of earning a medal with a 26th-place showing. She finished with a time of 14:01.
Not far behind was Dabbs who managed to finish 35th with a time of 14:22. Harmon was just two seconds behind Dabbs and finished 36th. Carter was 46th with a time of 14:43 and York was 59th with a time of 15:00.
Alicen Williams also competed for the Cowgirls, but her finish did not count in the team total. Williams was 100th with a time of 16:41.
The finish by the Cowgirls was also impressive because two of the girls had been battling illness just the day before the meet.
The Cowgirls will next compete in the Cameron University meet at the Big Green Soccer Complex in Lawton. This will be the final meet of the year until the Class 2A regional on October 13.
The junior high boys’ team competed in the meets at Sulphur, Healdton and Frederick. The Cowboys recorded a fifth-place team finish at Sulphur and earned runner up honors at Healdton.
Ryan Junior High Results
At Sulphur
BOYS: 20. Koble Lewis, 8:03.34; 23. Tommy Self, 8:15.59; 30. Alex Uribe, 8:35.95; 32. Mason Adsit, 8:39.79; 47. Landon Alexander; 59. Adan Uribe
GIRLS: 6. Jasmine Villarreal, 31. Whittany Spangler.
At Healdton
BOYS: Mason Adsit, Alex Urbie, Carson Williams, Tommy Self, Aidan Urbie.
GIRLS: 4. Jasmine Villarreal; 14. Whittany Spangler
At Frederick
GIRLS: 12. Jasmine Villerreal (medalists only)
BOYS: 23. Koble Lewis (medalists only)
