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This week with the Falcons 

October 24, 2023

BOYS WIN STATE!

GIRLS WIN 2ND PLACE

History Made as Boys Win Gold and Girls Earn Runners-up

Coach Daniel Gonzalez

On a cool day at the Rose Athletic Park in Salt Lake City, the Falcons of Canyon View made history, with the boys going home with the winner’s trophy and the girls going home with the 2nd place trophy. Both teams accomplished their feats for the first time ever. Also happening for the first time is both teams earning a state trophy at the same time. :) 

With start times in the late afternoon, the teams had plenty of time in the morning to get in a short run with everyone who came to cheer them on. A whole busload of Canyon View peers rode up to Salt Lake to support them as they chased after a state title or two! (We appreciate all who came up! Thank you) 

After a season of some ups and a few downs, the girls stepped onto the course, ready to finally earn a spot on the podium after last year’s close call. The teams standing in their way included last year’s champions, the Carbon Dinos, 2021’s champions the Ogden Tigers, and another region rival in the Emery Spartans. All three of these teams boasted one or more athletes that were capable of finishing in the top ten at the state meet, so the plaques would be decided by the depth of each team. Carbon’s Rozlyn Stowe led the field at a very quick 5:36, tailed only by Union’s own strong runner Jaylie Jenkins one second behind. Those two would remain in those places for the remainder of the race with Stowe winning her 2nd XC state individual title in as many years. On the team side, the Lady Falcons of Canyon View were actually leading the way with 83 points over Ogdens 89. Three of CV’s runners were in the top 12, a good 30+ seconds behind leader Stowe. Lydia Forsyth, Lara Sorensen, and Jenna Fife were leading the charge with Evelyn Fawson, Jane Brown, Kennedy Rayburn, and Ember Sorenson ranging from 27th to 33rd.

During the 2nd mile, the Tigers of Ogden took control of the race, with 2 runners now in the top 10, they led the team battle over the Lady Falcons of CV by over 20 points. Canyon View still clung to that 2nd place podium placing with a 15 point cushion over 3rd place Carbon at the time. Forsyth, Sorensen, and Fife all fell back a few places with Fawson climbing a couple places. Sorenson, Brown, and Rayburn rounded out the team at 2 miles within a quarter second of each other further down the line in 37th-39th. 

Coming into the finish, the Tigers of Ogden never looked back, claiming their 2nd state title in three years, a bit of a redemption year as last year they finished a distant 4th place. The Lady Falcons of Canyon View were putting the cherry on top of their own historical season. The Lady Falcons were able to retain their 2nd place finish to earn the first piece of team hardware from the state championships ever! Although Forsyth and Sorensen just missed out on individual medals by finishing in 11th and 12th, they started the scoring for CV. Fife followed in 20th place, with Fawson moving up another couple spots to 22nd overall. Rayburn stepped up big time for the Lady Falcons and moved up 8 spots to finish in 29th and close the door on the scoring and on Carbon’s hopes for two straight years of trophies. Sorenson and Brown rounded out CV’s historical team. Although Ogden, Carbon, Emery, and Union all had two athletes each in the top ten of the race, it was Ogden and CV’s depth through 5 runners that earned them their respective spots atop the podium. Seeing as CV’s top 4 runners are all seniors, this was a fine finale to a roller coaster of a year, and will hopefully inspire younger athletes to rise up to the challenges of building a newer, younger team next year. 

They boys of CV, although not with a team at a full 100%, were nonetheless the clear favorites walking into the State Meet. Despite a loss by a single point to Manti three weeks earlier at the Region 12 Championships with an injury scare, the Falcons rose up to the challenge, getting healthy again and ultimately becoming the first state champion XC team from Canyon View. 

The road to their championship was not without effort, as the Falcons of CV needed to race well to earn their victory. The first obstacle to overcome was a race recall about 10 seconds after the gun fired. Whether that increased or decreased nerves and tension, only the athletes themselves can tell. Once the race restarted, though, the first mile was quick, with a small group leading the way, coming through the first mile at 5:05. Thomas Daniels and Payson Slade started the scoring in 11th and 13th, with Logan Hadley and Bret Sorensen continuing the scoring in 23rd and 24th. Rounding out the scoring at the mile was William Heaton in his first ever state meet race in 32nd with Nathaniel Callison right behind in 34th. Klay Brian started off his state meet career in a respectable 53rd place at the mile. The team took a comfortable lead at this point and didn’t look to be giving it up any time soon.

The Falcons of Canyon View strengthened their grip on the 3A classification by knocking off close to 40 points off their team total, coming through the 2nd mile with 67 points. Daniels and Slade moved up to 7th and 11th, with Hadley and Sorensen moving up many places to 12th and 13th. 5th runner Callison moved all the way up to 25th at the 2nd mile with Heaton also moving up to 28th. Brian rounded out the team in 52nd, maintaining his place from the first mile. 2nd place Manti needed a miracle to overcome the now 30-point gap between them and Canyon View.

Unfortunately for the Templars, a miracle would not be in the cards, as the Falcons of Canyon View cruised in to the final straightaway with points to spare, ultimately having won the title by a comfortable 47 points, a virtual landslide in a state championship setting. Emery’s star senior, Camdon Larsen, led the way for the field, winning in a strong 5k time of 15:55. The first Falcon across the line was Daniels, running a strong 16:31 to finish in 6th place overall. Nabbing the last all state medal was Logan Hadley, running a stellar 16:38. Although they missed out on the medals, Slade and Sorensen were once again side by side in 11th and 12th place right at 16:40 and 16:41. Slamming the door on any team hoping to sneak in and steal the title was Callison. He was instrumental in securing the 2nd place trophy for the Falcons last year, finishing as their 6th man and finishing in front of Carbon’s 6th man. Improving on his time from last year by a good margin of time, he finished in 24th place, moving up another place from the 2nd mile. Experience was the name of the game for the Falcons’ 6th and 7th runners, Heaton and Brian, running the first of hopefully many state championship races. 

This year’s state meet was filled with firsts, seconds, lasts, and, hopefully, many lasting memories for the athletes to treasure and share for the rest of their lifetimes. Marking the journey to their state trophy’s complete, the athletes were welcomed home late that night by a welcoming crowd of family, friends, and classmates. As it turns out, Summer miles really do make Fall smiles.

Emotional Roller Coaster as Girls Dominate Region, Boys Miss Out By 1 Point

Daniel Gonzalez

In 2022, at the Carbon Country Golf Course in Helper, Utah, the boy's team won their first region title since 2016 in a comfortable fashion, finishing with six runners in the top 13 and seven in the top 15, beating out Carbon by eleven points. The girl's team, on the other hand, on the up-and-up, were only able to secure a third-place finish, only separated from the top team by 11 points. The boy's team would later go on to finish 2nd at the state meet with the girls finishing 3rd. In 2023, the roles were reversed, with the girls winning the Region 12 championships comfortably and the boys barely missing out on the victory. 

The JV boys were the first on the course for the championship schedule. The boys took it out hard and competed well, challenging for the win, but ultimately coming up short by a single point. They were led by a strong performance in Klay Brian, who PR’ed by over 30 seconds and finished 2nd place overall! Brian was joined in the top 10 places by teammates Nash Wilcock and Nick Randall in 5th and 6th place, respectively. Coulson Ohms and Nate Williams rounded out the team in 11th and 14th. Individuals who also PR’ed include Will Grimshaw, Rand Neilson, Ellis Lambeth, Taite Carneseca, and Tyler Russell. 

The JV girls race was dominated by Canyon View Falcons, and the ladies not only scored the perfect 15 points, but also took up all of the top-9 spots in the race! The 9 athletes that finished were, in this order, Penelope Neat(1st), Kirra Lovell(2nd), Ashlyn Dustin(3rd), Nancy Fife(4th), Jack Findlay(5th), Mimi Rosengren(6th), Jori Kelly(7th), Paige Lebaron(8th), and Mckinley Bagley(9th). Those who ran personal bests over their careers were Lovell, Findlay, Rosengren, Lebaron, Bagley, as well as Daya Stevens, Violet Yorgason, Lillie Despain, and Lindsay Grimshaw. 

The Varsity Boys were able to battle against multiple obstacles, including less than optimal performances, returners from injury, and a surging Manti team. Although the team battled to the end, as showcased by the multiple Falcons who were only a fraction of a second behind the runner in front of them, they were unable to pull off the victory, instead settling for 2nd place overall, and, like their JV counterparts, finish only a single point from the win. Led by seniors Payson Slade and Bret Sorensen, whom have been pushing each other stride-for-stride the entire season, the scoring got started in 5th and 6th place. Both boys were separated by only a tenth of a second, and only 1 second behind Carbon’s first runner. Logan Hadley finished in 8th place, only a tenth of a second behind Manti’s 3rd runner. Thomas Daniels, on the return from injury, finished in 10th, only two-tenths of a second behind Manti’s 4th. Nathaniel Callison ran a terrific race, finishing only 2 seconds off of his PR from Juab to finish the scoring in 13th place, and a stellar performance by William Heaton placed him in the top 15 with a 30+ second PR. Micah Steffensen rounded out the team, finishing in 28th. 

The Lady Falcons of Canyon View were the class of the Region, finishing with all of their 7 athletes in the top 17, with the entirety of their scoring team in the top 12. Lydia Forsyth once again led the way with a good performance to finish in 3rd place. A much improving Lara Sorensen finished next in 5th place, and another much improved Falcon, Jenna Fife, finished in 7th. Although outside the top 10, Jane Brown, Kennedy Rayburn, and Evelyn Fawson all finished one after the other, coming in places 11th-13th, respectively. Ember Sorenson finished the team with a 17th-place effort. The ladies’ efforts earned them their first region championship in 7 years, helping to emphasize to the rest of the state that Canyon View is the team to beat for the upcoming state championships in a few weeks. 

Although the day ended with heartbreak for the boys and highly emotional celebrations for the girls, both teams can take solace in the fact that when everyone is healthy, happy, and trusting, they can take charge of whatever challenge comes their way. 

The next stop on the road to state is the 3A Divisionals held on the 10th of October. After that, the State Final will be two weeks later on the 24th of October, where both teams will look to lift the winner’s trophy for the first time in school history. Based on the efforts and results of the Region Championships, there is no reason why that can’t be the end result. 

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