WYOMING STATE MEET 

Habtamu Wetzel Wins Second Straight 4A Title, Leads Star Valley Parade

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor 

Junior Habtamu Wetzel won the Class 4A final cross country race for the second straight year and led Star Valley to a terrific performance Saturday in Cheyenne. 

Wetzel ran 15:48.3, almost the exact same time as he ran last year in Ethlete, Wyo. Teammate Jase Burton finished 10 seconds back in 15:58.6. And then, Peter Lorch, Colton Cranney and Drake Plowman finished sixth, seventh and eighth. 

The Braves scored 24 points and the five scorers split 47 seconds. 

Natrona County, which lost to Cheyenne Central by six points last year, turned the tables and won by five points this time, 50-55, to knock off the defending champions.

Madison Antonino of Jackson Hole was a big winner in the 4A girls race, running 18:17.2 and winning by 40 seconds.  

In Class 3A, Charlie Hulbert of Cody ran 16:10.2 and beat Trajn Swalstad of Worland after those two broke away from the pack. The winning margin was seven seconds. Evanston put three in the top eight on the way to a team title with 57 points.

Zena Tapia of Worland won the 3A girl race by 32 seconds, in 19:33.3.

Powell knocked off Cody, 65 to 76 to win the team championship. 

Burlington won a boys team title in 2A and added two individual crowns. In the girls race, Jessie Michaels won the girls race by nearly a minute in 20:49.7. The boys went 1-2-4-21 to win the team title. Brothers Howard McNiven and Paul McNiven went 1-2 for the Huskies. Howard, a junior, ran 17:40.4 and Paul, a sophomore, was next in 18:01.4.

Wright won the girls team title with 30 points, with Kylie Benim leading the charge with a second-place finish. 

Team Champions - 

Class 4A - Star Valley boys 24 points, Natrona County girls 50 points - RESULTS

Class 3A - Evanston boys 57 points, Powell girls 65 points - RESULTS

Class 2A - Burlington boys 27 points, Wright girls 30 points (score 4) - RESULTS