State Cross-Country highlights the weekend as all of Wyoming’s long-distance runners converged on Ethete and host Wyoming Indian High School.
The 3A Boys race came down to Mountain View’s one-two punch of Owen Burnett and Tanner Erickson giving the Buffaloes the advantage over Star Valley’s depth as the Buffs took the team title with a score of 50. Star Valley was second with 71.
Freshman Habtamu Wetzel led the Braves with a fourth place finish overall and a time of 16:53. Burnett won the individual title with a 16:16.
Sophomore Drake Plowman also had a top-ten finish with a 17:25. Senior Johnny Hunting was right behind him in 11th. Sophomore Beau Skinner and freshman Jase Burton rounded out the scoring five. Sophomore Bryan Hahn and freshman Grant Buchanan were also part of hte pack, setting the Braves up for quite a run over the next three seasons.
The girls times will be posted once they become official.
On the volleyball court, the Lady Braves improved their record to (22-9)(6-0) as they swept the visiting Green River Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
The scores of the match were 25-11, 25-13 and 26-24. The win gave Star Valley a perfect Southwest District record as they prepare to host the 4A West Regional Tournament this upcoming weekend.
The teams scheduled to compete alongside the Lady Braves are Evanston, Jackson, Green River, Natrona County, Cody, Rock Springs and Riverton.
On the football field, the Braves used a five-touchdown second quarter to break open a 3-0 game on the road in Green River as they improved their record to (5-4)(3-2) to close out the regular season. The final score was 51-7.
Star Valley got a huge game on the ground from Lane Oesch who rushed for 226 yards on just 14 carries. He scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Chase Stewart caught a pair of touchdown passes from Taft McClure and Star Valley as a team rushed for 347 yards and five rushing touchdowns as a team from 18 different ball carriers.
In addition to Oesch, Conner Hart, Logan Bringhurst, Kysen Hebdon and Derek Astle all found the end zone. JD Morris had an interception on defense, Taggart Heward forced a fumble and Zac Patterson had a fumble recovery.
It was the 11th straight time Star Valley has defeated Green River in the series.
Star Valley entered the evening solidified as the 3A West #3 seed and had to wait for several games to play out to determine when and where they would be playing.
Douglas took care of Worland, 16-7 to claim the #1 seed out of the East again. Lander upset the Buffalo Bison on the road, 22-12 and that combined with the Worland loss gave the Tigers the #2 seed as they will now host the Braves in the opening round of the playoffs. The time for that kickoff will be added here once it has been determined by the two schools.
In the West, Cody scored late to overcome a two-point Jackson lead to win the 3A West, 21-15.
Powell will travel to Douglas, Buffalo will be in Jackson and Cody will host the Warriors.
