Cross country out of the gates quickly

It was a strong start to the season for the Green River Lady Wolves cross country team.

Competing for the only time at home this season, The Lady Wolves were able to finish first out of eight teams at the annual Green River Invitational.

Green River was sparked by the performance of junior Josie Givens who put on an amazing effort and just missed out on first place by a second. Givens finished with a time of 20:02, just behind Hannah Behunin of Mountain View, who ran a 20:01.

"She had a great race. It was a great first meet and an awesome time," head coach Steve Boyd said. "It looks like she is going to have a great season."

Nicole Davis was the next top Lady Wolf to cross the finish line with a fourth place time of 22:05. Cheyenne McMichael finished eighth with a time of 22:53, and Sarah Joyner was ninth just a second behind at 22:54. Cassandra Newcomb also ended up in the top 15 with a 13th-place finish and a time of 24:40.

Boyd said the girls had a good time and all the returners dropped time compared to last year. He said Newcomb looked good at the number five position and showed potential to be a key part of the 2014 team.

Green River's Kaleigh Allison ended the race in 22nd out of 42 runners with a time of 26:22, and Kirsten Knezovich finished 35th with a time of 29:52.

On the boy's side, Green River finished in second place to Evanston, who ran away with the event after having runners finish in first, second, and fifth.

The top individual finisher for Green River was Shawn McGuire who finished fourth with a time of 18:52.

Austin Waters finished in eighth with a time of 19:08, Curtis Westenskow was ninth with a time of 19:19, and Braden Reichl finished 10th with a time of 19:21. Brayden Kovich finished in 15th place with a time of 19:52.

Boyd said the boys team ran really well and they had a nice tight grouping between the number one and five runners.

"We have the grouping we need. We just need to drop those times and I think we will," he said.

Other Wolves who competed were Jaryn Johnson who finished in 28th place, Greg Vanderpool who placed 41th out of 85 runners, Caleb Nathan who ended up in 47th place. and Miles Moffat who finished in the 61st position.

This week the team will travel to the Cardinal Classic in Soda Springs, Idaho. Boyd said it is a tougher course that will feature a hill, but he is hoping to maintain the times from the first meet.