With five meets under their belts, the Carbon High Cross Country team is running strong. Senior Garrett Marsing is leading the pack. Marsing has placed first in four of the five cross country events the team has participated in and was the top 3A runner at the Murray Invitational.
Marsing is ranked number one in the state in the 3A division and also in the top 100 National Elite. He has posted times in the range of 15.21 and 15.38 consistently. In Vernal Wednesday, Marsing helped anchor the Carbon boys to a second place finish as a team.
Sophomore Trey Richardson and freshman Drew Jones are coming on strong and learning from Marsing. There are several Carbon boys who are running strong and making a case for their spots on the varsity team.
Ranked first in the region, Richfield is a solid contender, but the second spot is up for grabs. Carbon’s cross country coach Telisse Allen, feels that the Dinos have a good shot at taking the number two slot.
The girls team is also strong with freshman Zaharha Rossi and senior Giovanna Chiara are both ranked in the top 10 in the region. Abbi Powell and Sara Ohwiller are ranked in the top 15. So far, the girls have not had the minimum required five runners participate therefore, they have not scored as a team. Coach Allen feels very confident that there are a few girls who have been working hard and will fill in that fifth spot soon.
Both the boys and girls teams have many young runners that will help develop a solid core for the future. But this year, Allen is making sure that as a senior Marsing finishes what he has been working for his entire high school career.
Marsing’s chances of earning a spot on the podium at the state tournament this year are extremely high. Allen expects Marsing’s already fast times will continue to drop as the season progresses. The coach is also working with him to get strengthen his finish. She believes if Marsing would have had just a little more in the tank at the Murray Invitational, he would have won that race outright. Even then, fifth out of 2,200 runners is nothing to sneeze at.
Carbon will head to the BYU Invitational this Saturday where they hope to continue their climb to the top.