• Qualifies for Nationals on December 7
According to Jase Burton, he’s had a post-it note on his mirror he sees every day about what he wanted to do this past Saturday as he raced at the NikeCross Regionals in Boise.
“I’ve been trying to come out here and get it done and accepted the hurt and ran my hardest,” he said in a post-race interview. “I’ve been dreaming of it.”
Burton’s dream was to hang with the best in the country. Now some of them know what it’s like to see the back of his jersey as he placed second overall in the Championship race. His time of 14:55.3 is the fastest time ever by a Wyoming runner, edging out former SVHS great Peter Visser by about a second. Burton spoke about jostling with the most prolific speed demons in the country.
“I was terrified but I was confident in myself and my running and running on this course,” he answered. “I figured I’d let them run and fight for that fifth place but kept working at it and we came off the hill and pushed off the bottom…I don’t know what to say, I just took off.”
Oregon’s Tayvon Kitchen finished exactly two seconds in front of Burton who fended off top-ranked Owen Powell for the second spot.
“I’m not sure we even realize what a big deal this is,” responded SVHS Coach Ty Draney. “The amount of work and luck and things that have to come together to accomplish this. Proud of Jase and his efforts and all the kids who went. The focus of the weekend was making the hard choice. We love running but getting out to train is hard. And during every race you run into a hard point and have to choose to do something about it.”
Burton noted in the post-race comments his admiration for Visser as a younger runner.
“I’ve been chasing Peter Visser; his records and times forever from middle school so to be here and represent my school and my community and my state and [show] that Wyoming running is just as competitive as any other state…I don’t know what to say.”
Burton’s time now awards him a spot for the NikeCross Nationals which will be held in Portland on December 7.
“Im looking forward to getting into a pack and seeing what my body can do and pushing myself as hard as possible,” he said. “I’m just gonna keep believing in myself and keep training as hard as possible and push it just like I did today.”
Draney was proud of the area runners who went and competed some six weeks after the Wyoming state championships. By his count, 19 of the 30 runners who went, carded either an all-time best or a season-best time.
“It’s super-competitive and a lot of big schools were there,” he said. “By Wyoming standards we maybe aren’t considered a small school, but out in the world we are pretty darn small.”
•SVHS Runners Qualify Collegiately
Speaking of Peter Visser, the Weber State standout qualified for the NCAA Nationals by finishing 15th in the Western Region race this past weekend. According to WSU, he is just the fourth runner in school history to qualify for the race multiple times after earning a trip last season. His 15th place finish came mixed in with two of the top three teams in the nation at the race including #1 BYU and #3 Northern Arizona.
In addition, Asefa Wetzel will be running with his Wyoming Cowboy teammates as the team earned an At Large bid to the Nationals. The Cowboys have been ranked for much of this past season. Also, Eve Mavy qualified for the D-III National race as well.
Draney reflected on the passage of time with Wetzel in particular.
“It popped up on my Facebook feed that Asefa won the Nike middle school race ten years ago to the day that he and his team qualified for Nationals,” he said. It had been snowing in that race and I thought we had lost him because it was so miserable. He said, coach I’m so cold and then disappeared into a sleeping back for rest of the trip. It was a neat full circle moment for that.”
The NCAA Nationals take place in Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday, November 23.
Boys Championship Race
Jase Burton 14:55.3
Habtau Wetzel 15:24.6
Colton Cranney 15:50.9
Brigham Hahn 16.27.5
Matt Heywood 17:09.3
Luke Harris 17:32.8
Ben Hirschi 18:01.0
Girls Open Inv. #1
Carlee Angell 20:09.5
Alexis Angell 20:18.7
Kylee Linford 20:18.8
Macy Kennington 20:40.6
Kaitlyn Bach 20:59.3
Kelsie Dunne 21:28.5
Kenna Merritt 21:57.3
