Saratoga girls cross country champions

Saratoga Cross Country returned home on Saturday from the 2A State Championship with team and individual state champions on board. With the season officially at an end for the long distance runners, it is yet another season which has ended on a high note.

For the first time since 2009, the Girls Cross Country team returned to the Valley as 2A State Champions. Also, for the first time, Saratoga has a runner who has become a three-time individual State Champion.

Girls' Varsity

Last season, the girls' varsity team had a small taste of victory when they were the 2A State Runner Up. With some returning runners and new blood on the team, they were able to make a win possible while in Ethete on October 23. In a sport where the lowest points wins, Saratoga gathered 18 points to secure their team win. They were followed by Tongue River with 39 points, Wyoming Indian with 52 points, Hulett with 66 points and Thermopolis with 74 points.

Four members of the girls' varsity team placed in the top 10 to gather those 18 points.

Marilee Williams came in 3rd place, finishing with a time of 21 minutes, 19 seconds and Maddie Teichman came in 4th place with a time of 21 minutes, 27 seconds. Milan Scott followed in 8th place as she finished with a time of 22 minutes, 32 seconds and Rhiwan Williams finished in 10th place with a time of 22 minutes, 43 seconds.

All four top 10 finishers earned All-State Honors.

Aspen Sewell finished in 21st place with a time of 24 minutes, 20 seconds and Jaden Campbell came in 30th place with a finishing time of 25 minutes, 54 seconds.

This marks the first time Saratoga's girls' varsity cross country team has won a state championship in 12 years. Saratoga was the 2A Girls State Cross Country champions in 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2009.

Boys' Varsity

For the second year in a row, Saratoga's boys' varsity team returned as the 2A State Cross Country Runner Ups. The team took 2nd place last year and were able to secure a state championship in 2016, 2018 and 2019. Though the boys' varsity team did not take 1st, Grant Bartlett returned home as the individual state champion for the third year in a row.

Prior to Grant Bartlett, Encampment's Jarom Herring had run for Saratoga cross country and had been a back-to-back state champion. By taking his third individual state championship this season, Grant Bartlett has joined only two other athletes in the 2A division who have also secured three consecutive individual championships.

Caleb Her Many Horses of Wyoming Indian High School was the 2A Individual State Champion from 2007 to 2009 and Brett Schuler of Wright High School was the 2A Individual State Champion from 2002 to 2004, according to records available through the Wyoming High School Activities Association.

Grant Bartlett took 1st in Ethete with a finishing time of 17 minutes, 1 second. His finish also earned him All-State Honors. His twin brother, Grady Bartlett, finished just 16 seconds behind and came in 2nd place to become a three time state runner up. Grady's final time was 17 minutes, 17 seconds. His placing also earned him All-State Honors.

Calvin Condict finished in 10th place with a time of 18 minutes, 34 seconds and also earned All-State Honors. Kelton Johnson followed in 19th place with a time of 19 minutes, 49 seconds. Zane Butler came in 42nd place with a tie of 21 minutes, 26 seconds, Douglas Anderson finished in 58th place with a time of 23 minutes, 13 seconds and Colin Greenberg finished in 67th place with a time of 25 minutes, 18 seconds.

Though they scored the same amount of points as Rocky Mountain, tying at 30 points, Saratoga lost the tie breaker to come in 2nd place. Tongue River followed with 32 points, Glenrock had 70 points and Lovell had 100 points.