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SALT LAKE CITY — Courtney Wayment knew Wednesday had the potential to be a good day when she hit the final 400 meters of the Class 5A State Girls Cross Country Meet and looked around here.
The Davis senior looked to her left as she rounded one of the soccer fields at Sugar House Park — something she said she almost never does — and saw the nearest runner more than 10 seconds behind her.
"This is my day," she thought to herself, ending a finishing kick to the finish line nearly 27 seconds before anyone else.
Wayment completed the 3.1-mile course at Sugar House Park in a course-record time of 17 minutes, 24.7 seconds to win her first individual title Wednesday to help the Darts to a second-place finish behind two-time champion American Fork.
Just as important as the individual medal was helping her team claim the runner-up trophy.
"It's a feeling that is indescribable, but my favorite part was turning around and watching my teammates finish," Wayment said. "I have never met a more genuine, sweet group of girls and boys in my entire life. I am so glad I made that transition. My team rocks; my coaches rock. And my time is probably about a minute faster.
It's a feeling that is indescribable, but my favorite part was turning around and watching my teammates finish.
–Davis High harrier Courtney Wayment
American Fork won its second straight state title with 41 points, led by a top-five finish from Sara Musselman. The junior finished fifth with a time of 18:11.6, and teammate Sophie Baird was right behind her in sixth at 18:19.4.
A.F.'s 41 points were 10 better than runner-up Davis, placing each of American Fork's four scoring runners in the top 10.
Wayment had never ran faster than 18:20 on the state course at Sugar House Park prior to Wednesday, but she blew away the time in her senior season.
The most important moment in her quest for a state title, though, came before the season began. Her family moved to Kaysville over the summer and she began focusing her time on the distance sport, instead of the much-beloved sport of soccer.
"This is my first full season (of cross country) ever, in my lifetime, so it feels pretty dang good," Wayment said immediately after crossing the finish line on the track at Highland High School. "I played soccer before, and the most races I'd do in a season was maybe four. I'd run at region as an individual and go to state.
"(Soccer) wasn't going so hot for me, so my dad and I decided the best fit for me would be to move to Davis because I needed more of a team and more of a coach."
In the past, the Davis senior trained under her father and often ran at region and state meets as an individual, with little to no formal training. But her move to Kaysville gave her several teammates to push her to an individual title, including Aubrey Argyle, who finished fourth with a time of 17:59.4.
Weber sophomore McKenna Lee was second in 17:51.5, and Bingham's Whitney Rich finished third in 17:54.7.
CLASS 4A — Provo junior Kate Hunter cruised to the individual title with a time of 18:15.9, 15 seconds ahead of second-place Olivia Hoj of Hunter. Mountain View freshman Mimi Miyazawa finished third in 18:35.1, followed by Springville's Julie Sumsion (18:36.4) and Salem Hills' Hannah Johnston (18:48.7).
Timpanogos won the team title with 69 points, placing runners in a 46-second spread from spots eight through 16. Mountain View was second with 88.
CLASS 3A — Union's Kennedy Powell edged fellow sophomore Zoe Hales of Stansbury, 18:58.4 to 18:59.4 to claim the individual championship.
Desert Hills' Bailey Brinkerhoff, Park City's Madison Carr and Desert Hills' Lily Poulton also finished in the top five.
Hales led Stansbury to the team title by a single point over Pine View, 60-61, after an array of coaches' challenges delayed the final result for several hours. Park City finished third with 83 points.
CLASS 2A — Millard's Anna Camp finished the course in 18:48.0 to win the individual title, but runner up Sadie Sargent (18:48.2) led North Summit to the team title.
Maggie Zwahlen finished third overall in 19:24.6 for North Summit, which edged Millard 55-62 in the team total.
CLASS 1A — Panguitch's Whittni Orton cruised to a winning time of 18:29.1 to win the small school race by more than a minute.
Parowan won the team title, 46-48, over Panguitch behind back-to-back finishes from seventh-place Ashlynn Blauer (22:10.1) and Emmy Evans (22:10.3).
CLASS 5A American Fork 41 Davis 51 Lone Peak 153 Riverton 157 Sky View 185CLASS 4A Timpanogos 69 Mountain View 88 Skyline 120 Timpview 129 Bonneville 150CLASS 3A Stansbury 60 Pine View 61 Park City 83 Desert Hills 88 Cedar 123CLASS 2A North Summit 55 Millard 62 North Sevier 104 Manti 114 Enterprise 120CLASS 1A Parowan 46 Panguitch 48 Duchesne 69 Wayne 125 Bryce Valley 125
