Several state champions and finalists finished in top positions in the team portion of Tuesday's Deseret Morning News/KJZZ TV 10K race. But in the wake of these champions, a team of three girls and one coach was doing some actual pioneering itself.

Roger Buhrley, former Davis High track and cross country coach, ran the team 10K (a youth competition within the 10K) with the first-ever Syracuse High cross country runners Tuesday. The team representing the new high school consisted of three girls: McKayla Williams, Hannah Williams and Abby Rich.

Buhrley began laying the foundation for a new running program this summer and decided to assemble a 10K team for the Pioneer Day race.

"It's been challenging," Buhrley said. "Maybe more challenging than I thought it would be."

Buhrley chose to leave the underclassmen he trained, the parent support and the winning tradition at Davis and start from scratch at Syracuse. He sent letters to students in the area to invite them to practice during the summer. From there, he picked the team.

"It's just a building process," Buhrley said.

The team may have run without the support that years of tradition give, but they ran with the support of a very dedicated coach.

Davis High, now coached by Corbin Talley, had an excellent showing at the 10K. Davis alumni Jared Ward, running for team Utah, took first with a time of 30:39. The 2007 5A state champion came in more than a minute before second-place Benjamin Johnson.

Johnson, the top returning distance runner in the country, said he enjoyed the event and the chance to come to Utah to run for team USA.

"It's pretty fun," Johnson said. "They take good care of you. It's also a good learning experience."

Johnson and Ward swapped places for the team scoring; Johnson was with the USA boys in first and Ward was with team Utah in second. The Davis boys placed third.

In the girls division, the dynamite duo from Davis High topped the charts. Candice Eddy and Natalie Haws took first and third, respectively. Second went to team Utah's Sarah Callister, who placed first with her team of Utah all-stars, one spot ahead of Davis. The Syracuse girls ended up fifth.

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Team Results

Boys: 1. USA, 1:36:51 (Benjamin Johnson, Kevin Williams, Patrick Casey, Hayden Hohnholt). 2. Utah, 1:37:50. 3. Davis, 1:41:13. 4. Bingham (A), 1:47:33. 5. Bingham (B), 1:54:51. 6. Woods Cross, 2:01:28. 7. Hillcrest, 2:06:20

Girls: 1. Utah, 1:56:19 (Sarah Callister, Kacee Hildebrandt, Hailey Knettles). 2. Davis, 1:57:41. 3. USA, 2:05:06. 4. Bingham (A), 2:08:20. 5. Syracuse, 2:17:12. 6. Bingham (B), 2:23:52

Individual Results

Boys: 1. Jared Ward, 30:39 (Utah). 2. Benjamin Johnson, 31:45 (USA). 3. Kevin Williams, 32:26 (USA) 4. Patrick Casey, 32:40 (USA) 5. Nate Jewkes, 32:54 (Bingham)

Girls: 1. Candace Eddy, 37:07 (Davis). 2. Sarah Callister, 37:45 (Utah). 3. Natalie Haws, 38:27 (Davis). 4. Anne Lovelace, 38:57 (USA). 5. Kacee Hildebrandt, 39:12 (Utah).

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E-mail: hlebaron@desnews.com