As July winds down, Hillcrest High’s cross country runners will take to the canyons’ trails, preparing for a competitive season that begins in August.

Head coach Scott Stucki is encouraged by what he’s seen so far this summer.

“Our guys have a chance to be decent; we graduated three, but those guys coming back can be pretty good,” he said. “If we can keep being consistent this summer and keep people healthy, then we have a chance to be the best we've been in a while.”

Now competing at the 5A level, Stucki has confidence in the boys’ team’s ability to qualify and place well at state.

“We’ll be in the realm of possibility (to win region 4 although) we're not the favorites because Taylorsville is the defending state champ. But if our guys develop, we may have a chance to compete for it,” Stucki said. “(Incoming senior) Jonathan Dastrup is going to be our leader on the course. If he stays healthy, he's going to have a good season.”

Dastrup finished fourth for the Huskies at last year’s state meet, helping the team continue its streak of 19 consecutive state appearances. This year’s state meet is scheduled for Oct. 29 at Sugar House Park. Regionals will take place at Valley Regional Park in Taylorsville and divisionals at Lakeside Park in Orem.

While the boys’ team appears poised for a strong season, Stucki expressed uncertainty about the girls’ squad.

“I don't know that we're going to have the depth to challenge for anything. It’s been hard since it’s summer and I haven’t seen all the kids I think who are going to be out, but (incoming junior) Ella Goodman is going to have a good season. We've got other girls who could be pretty good behind her; we just have to see if we have enough of them,” he said.

Cross country varsity teams consist of seven runners, with the top five counting toward a team score. 

Last year, Hillcrest’s girls only qualified two individuals for state, including Goodman, who placed 57th. However, she’s coming off a standout track season, where she broke the school record in the 800 meters (2:22.79) and placed 20th at the state track meet.

Goodman also anchored the school-record-setting 4x800-meter relay team, with teammates and sophomores Tristan Oler, Kate Tuttle and Tavia Wilde, that posted a time of 10:19.4 and finished 15th at state. 

In field events, sophomore Coco Collins made her mark with a school record of 117 feet in the discus at regionals. The girls placed fourth overall at region, while the boys took third.

“Coco was one spot out of making finals in both the shot (10th place at 32’ 10”) and discus (10th at 106’ 3”). Overall, our teams’ throws were better this year, especially Coco. She threw marks that would have gotten her a medal easily last year. She threw well this year, especially in discus. She just needed to throw great to get on the podium,” Stucki said.

One of the season’s highlights came in girls’ pole vault, where Hillcrest swept the podium. Sophomore Kallie Doverspike claimed the state title with a vault of 8 feet. Close behind her were teammates sophomore Sarah Lignell (7'6", second), senior Charly Nelson (7'6", third) and junior Lindsay Siavrakas (7', fourth).

Two boys’ school relay records were set.

The 4x800 team—sophomore Greg Anderson, Dastrup and seniors Matt Keller and Josh Martin—clocked in at 8:17.42 to finish ninth at state. Meanwhile, the 4x200 squad of junior Will Nielson and seniors Lucas Loren, Thomas Harris and Hunter Hanson placed 12th and set a new school best with a time of 1:31.77.

In individual boys’ events, senior Carter Hill took second in the boys’ pole vault with a mark of 11 feet 6 inches. Senior Adam Collins medaled in both the discus (fifth, 141'4") and shot put (sixth, 48'5.5"). Martin finished sixth in the 1600 meters, recording a time of 4:22.39.

“We had more kids qualify for state, especially by mark, than we had in a while. I was pretty pleased with how well we competed, especially our four boys’ relays; we ran the best we've ran all year,” Stucki said. “Next (track season) we’re competing at 5A so we're going to have to do even better to get those kids back to state. It's going to be tougher; the qualifying marks are harder to get. We'll get some kids in hitting qualifying marks and then we'll get more kids through with region results. Our relays will be competitive and should do well.”