Byng teams run away with Badlands titles
Oct. 5—BYNG — Both Byng teams defended their home turf by winning the championships at the Byng Badlands Cross Country Invitational held Saturday morning on the school campus.
The Byng boys scored 25 points to capture the team title. Bridge Creek was second at 34 and Madill rounded out the Top 3 at 82.
The Lady Pirates also finished with 25 points to claim the team championship. Madill was runner-up at 45 and Bridge Creek was next at 66.
"Both teams ran extremely well today. I was extremely proud of how we ran," said Byng head coach Josh Sawyer. "I wanted them to get out of their comfort zones today and push the envelope a little. We were trying to push that wall back a little further today and I believe we did just that."
BOYS
Junior Jaden Rodriguez won the individual crown in the boys' race, finishing the 5K run with a time of 17:56.73.
Three Byng runners followed.
Senior Lawrence Coleman was runner-up with a time of 18:15.78, freshman Ezekiel Griffin was third at 18:42.28 and freshman Dallas Abbott was right on his heels at 18:42.82.
Byng had five more runners finish in the Top 15.
Freshman Aden Evans was sixth at 18:52.23; sophomore Alex Herrera was 10th at 19:19.73; Freshman Christian Nugent was 11th at 19:19.92 and sophomore Sam Smith was 14th in 19:48.49.
Sophomore Drew Graham was 18th in 20:17.51.
Latta's top finisher was junior Braydan Hill, who ended up 12th in 19:39.18. Freshman Ezekiel Rakes was next for the LHS crew at 26th in 20:43.49.
Senior Andrew Franklin of Coalgate finished 45th in 22:35.17.
Calvin's top runner was sophomore Jace Dickey, who finished 23rd in 20:37.21.
GIRLS
Byng freshman Ava Thompson captured the gold by winning first place in the medalist race with a time of 13:10.51. Junior Cadence Carlos was runner-up with a time of 13:10.71 in the two-mile run.
The Lady Pirates had three more runners with Top 10 finishes.
Junior Brylee Baird was sixth with a time of 14:06.76; Freshman Lani Myers was eighth in 14:09.18, and freshman Chloe Gaines was 10th in 14:26.37. Junior Alona Cooper-Rochovitz, despite nursing a sore arm, finished 28th in a time of 16:34.92.
Latta freshman Erin Kerr was seventh with a time of 14:07.17 and sophomore Summer Wilson was 12th in 14:50.34.
Coalgate was paced by junior Journey Pickett who was 27th with a time of 16:14.32.
Calvin got solid showings by senior Nariah Bump, who finished 11th in 14:36.48 and senior Rachel Janda, who was 17th in 15:08.48.
Tupelo High School had two runners compete — freshman Keira Miller (18:19.43) and junior Elizabeth Marshall (18:28.62).
Up Next
The Byng High School cross country teams will return to action Saturday at a meet in Waurika.
"That meet will be a good test for both teams. We'll get the opportunity to race against some of the best teams in 4A this year," Sawyer said. "I believe if everyone races well, we can compete with any team in 4A."
Both Byng teams are No. 5 in the latest Class 4A rankings.
