Feeny dazzles, top teams leave no doubt

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

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Perfect conditions and some of the most competitive fields in state history produced a regionally and nationally significant state meet on Wednesday at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City.

Between class and classification records there were at least 20 records set.

But the ones that caused the most buzz were the 17:25 time turned in by Ogden senior Sarah Feeny for three miles -- a nine-second improvement on Kelsey Braithwaite's 2011 state course record -- and the intra-class dual between the Park City and Davis girls for all-time best team performance.

Feeny, of Class 4A Ogden, had circled this date on her calendar a year ago with an eye on setting the record and she delivered.

"It's been my goal all season, actually since last year, to break the course record at state," Feeny said. "Through all my workoiuts the whole year, I had that goal in mind."

Feeny, of course, wasn't sure her record would last the hour. Up next on the docket was the 5A girls and pre-meet favorite Lucy Biles of Herriman.

By the time she stood on the starting, Biles knew what Feeny had done. And the news piled a little bit more stress onto her nerves.

"My head wasn't in it," Biles said. "I felt good (physically)."

Biles got out a little bit slower than Feeny did over that first mile, and even though she gapped the 5A field, she was unable to play beat-the-clock the way the 4A champ did.

"I was kinda not sure how to guage where I was (in relation to time)," Biles said.

Regardless, Biles ran 17:41.9 and won by nearly 30 seconds. It was the fourth-fastest time in state history.

But the girls team performances logged by Park City (3A) and Davis (5A) were also big. US#7 Park City put together a sensational cumulative time of 93:36 (with four runners under 19 minutes) to break the 1999 record of Bingham. Aimee Bryson of Cedar won the 3A girls race in 17:58.9.

But then US#1 Davis came along and did it in 92:27.8 -- thanks to a better fifth.

The boys races lived up to billing as well despite falling a little short of the record-setting expectations that led in to the meet.

At 5A, it was US#3 American Fork winning its fifth consecutive title with 44 points. And up front, Connor McMillan led the charge by running 15:04.1 for the third-fastest time in state meet history.

"(Running under 15 minutes) was kind of the goal," McMillan said. "But the first couple of splits were a little slower."

Clayson Shumway of Lone Peak kept things honest after the first mile by making his bid and trying to run away from the other contenders. But the pack caught up to him and at two miles, McMillan began to charge ahead.

With half a mile to go, Kramer Morton of Alta was right there with him. But in the final 200, Morton faltered badly and faded to sixth.

Shumway was second in 15:23 and led Lone Peak to the second-place team finish that most figured was going to be razor-close.

In the Class 4A boys race, Foot Locker finalist Conner Mantz cruised to a 15:11.5 win and Orem stepped up big with a decisive win with 71 points. Timpanagos was second with 105 and Ogden was third with 112.

New records:

Girls Overall Individual (Feeny 17:25.00, old record Braithewaite
17:36.4 from 2011)
Girls Overall Team Time (Davis and Park City, old record Bingham 1999)
Girls Junior Class (Lucy Biles)
Boys 5A Senior (Connor McMillan) -- also 5A overall
Boys 5A Freshman (Casey Clinger)
Boys 4A Junior (Conner Mantz)
Boys 2A Senior (Ryan Westermann) -- also 2A overall
Boys 2A Sophomore (Jack McCulloch)
Girls 5A Junior (Lucy Biles) -- also 5A overall
Girls 4A Senior (Sarah Feeney) -- also 4A overall
Girls 3A Senior (Aimee Bryson) -- also 3A overall
Girls 3A Freshman (Alison Pray)
Girls 5A Team Time (Davis)
Girls 3A Team Time (Park City)

TEAM CHAMPIONS:

1A -- Panguitch girls, Monticello boys

2A -- North Summit girls, Rowland Hall boys

3A -- Park City girls, Desert Hills boys

4A -- Ogden girls, Orem boys

5A -- Davis girls, American Fork boys