High school cross country: Parowan girls, Rowland Hall boys take 2A titles

SALT LAKE CITY — Once he entered the football stadium at Highland High, Parowan junior Ammon Blauer was exactly where he wanted to be.

Blauer had a cushion of several seconds between him and his closest competitor. Even better, his pace was quick enough that he was on the verge of meeting his twin goals of finishing with a time under 17 minutes and claiming a state title.

"I just went for it," Blauer said. "I said from the beginning I wanted to go out and win it and I just kept the pace."

Blauer's efforts were more than enough to make him the 2A boys cross-country champion at Sugarhouse Park on Wednesday afternoon. He finished in 16 minutes and 57.5 seconds for his first state title in the sport.

North Sevier senior Zach Peterson finished second behind Blauer with a time of 17:23.1 and Rowland Hall junior John Gilbert placed third after crossing the line in 17:33.9. San Juan senior Taylor Francom — the defending state champion — took fourth after finishing in 17:34.9.

Blauer dramatically improved on his seventh place finish a year ago when he ran the race in 18:17.3. He ran the race while battling an illness and now, fully healthy, felt like he had what he took to stay with Francom and the other frontrunners this time around.

When he started running though, he soon realized he had what it took to claim a state title of his own.

"My first strategy was stay with last year's state champ," Blauer said. "But I just went out and started feeling it. I just kind of listened to (my coaches) on the sides and never looked back after the race started."

Parowan had plenty to celebrate besides Blauer's big win. The Lady Rams captured their first cross-country title in school history after finishing with 48 points. Defending champion San Juan took second with 57.

Chennin Benson was the lone Parowan runner to finish in the top 10 after placing fifth with a time of 21:09.9. But five of her teammates earned top 20 finishes — led by Karianne Savage at 11th — to put the team over the top.

"From our first place to our last place, there's never very much time in between us," Benson said. "We always just stick together and we have a pretty consistent team."

The Broncos had just three top 20 finishers, which ultimately cost them a shot at claiming a third consecutive state title.