Springville’s Grant Gardner, Lehi’s Anna Martin are fastest individuals in early test in Utah; American Fork boys win for ninth time in past decade, Lone Peak girls secure first title

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The top-ranked boys and girls cross country programs in Utah prevailed Saturday at the 23rd edition of the Grass Relays, but both had to do so in come-from-behind fashion at Westlake High.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

American Fork rebounded from last year’s setback to Springville to win the boys 5 x 2-mile competition for the ninth time in the past decade.

Carson Clinger, Kobe Serrano, Aaron Steed, Dalton Brems and Luke Grundvig combined to run 53 minutes, 18.9 seconds for the Cavemen in the relay, which has athletes from each team running twice around a loop that consists of a primarily flat grass layout and 13 hay bales. The course was officially measured this year at 2.03 miles.

Davis, which last prevailed in the boys competition in 2006, rallied to place second in 54:08.3 and Riverton – the leader for the first four legs – finished third in 54:23.2.

Lone Peak captured its first girls title in meet history, becoming the eighth different girls program to secure victory, including the third in as many years since the meet moved locations from American Fork to Westlake in 2016.

Reagan Gardner, Monet Winger, Eliza Arrington, Madison Hafen and Ali Bybee combined to run 64:33.7 for Lone Peak, which improved from seventh at last year’s meet. Gardner opened the race with the third-fastest overall split of 12:27.8, as only 14 female athletes ran under 13 minutes, including the earlier junior varsity races.

American Fork, which won three consecutive girls titles from 2014-16 before Maple Mountain prevailed last season, was runner-up for the second year in a row with a combined team performance of 65:36.1 to hold off third-place Westlake (65:43.7), anchored in 12:34.2 by Abby Jensen.

Lehi junior Anna Martin was the only female athlete to eclipse the 12-minute barrier, running 11:59.7 on the opening leg. The Pioneers wound up finishing 11th overall.

Woods Cross sophomore Carlee Hansen had the second-fastest girls time at 12:09.4. Hansen and senior teammate Michelle Christian were the leaders through two legs at 25:12, but Woods Cross didn’t have enough athletes to complete the girls relay. From there, it was all Lone Peak, as Arrington, Hafen and Bybee ran with no less than a 30-second advantage for the final three legs.

Despite his team finishing 10th overall, Springville senior Grant Gardner anchored the Red Devils in 10:14, the fastest split of the meet, which produced 30 male athletes under 11 minutes, including the earlier junior varsity races.

Joey Nokes led off for Riverton in 10:16.9, giving the Silverwolves a lead that Ty Davis, Tanner Rogers and Chandler Morgan maintained entering the final leg. But Grundvig produced a 10:26.1 anchor leg for American Fork and Nate Iverson capped the relay in 10:52 for Davis to surpass Riverton’s Jacob Andrews (11:48.1).

Brems was instrumental on the fourth leg for American Fork, producing a 10:37.8 split to trim a 47-second deficit down to a 17-second gap for Grundvig, who surpassed Andrews on the first lap by running 30 seconds faster for the opening mile.

Skyline’s Thomas Boyden took advantage of running the leadoff leg against Nokes by clocking 10:20.5, with Jason Davis of Woods Cross posting an opening split of 10:24.4.

Logan Evans of American Fork won the junior varsity boys 2-mile race in 10:46.6. Daniel Larsen of Davis prevailed in the sophomore boys 2-mile race in 10:58.8.

Eliza Mason of Lone Peak won the freshman/sophomore girls 2-mile race in 12:47.