The Yukon High School cross country teams finished their long, unusual season with a splash at the muddy, rescheduled state meet on Nov. 4. The teams had an improvement off of last year’s finish, while also dealing with the effects of COVID-19.
The girls team had a bright finish to the season, finishing sixth which is better than their seventh place finish one year ago. For individual performances, junior Avery Stanley finished eighth with a time of 19:27, followed by sophomore Harper Barlow coming in with a 24th place finish and a time of 20:25.
The third runner was sophomore Kailan Parks with a 40th place finish and a time of 20:55. Following Parks was senior Elora Jones, finishing 49th with a time of 21:06. Rounding out the scoring for the Millerettes was junior Bri Abbot with a 61st place finish and a time of 21:28. The two displacers for the Millerettes were sophomore Rena Henson and senior Lauren Brown finishing 69th and 102nd respectively.
As the group loses two seniors on varsity, coach Rodney Zimmerman says the future looks bright for girls cross country.
“We lose two seniors off varsity, but retain everyone else, we’ve got some freshmen that came in this year that worked really hard that I think can fill those roles,” Zimmerman said. “I think we got an eighth grader or two that will come in as a freshman next year that can come fill some of those roles, so I think it’s going to be positive for the next few years.”

The boys finished 13th, an improvement off of last year’s 14th place finish, after barely sneaking into the qualifying placement at the regional meet. The Millers had an up and down season, but overall the finish was nothing to be ashamed of.
For individual performances, sophomore Kayden Chaparro led the team, coming in 38th with a time of 17:12. Next up for the Millers was sophomore Max Marler finishing in 69th with a time of 17:48. Third in line for the team was junior Jonah Hanscom who crossed the line in 71st with a time of 17:50. The fourth runner was freshman Brandon McCoy who finished in 76th with a time of 17:55. The final runner in scoring was senior Caleb Ankrom, finishing 83rd with a time of 18:04. The two displacers were senior Cade Pope and sophomore Austin Miller finishing 101st and 104th respectively.
Coach Matt Parent says he was pleased with how the season went.
“I thought the season went really well, I’ve always said it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish and we started off pretty rough, but we finished pretty well,” Parent said.
In the COVID-19 era, nothing is certain anymore. Events can change, get rescheduled, canceled all on a moment’s notice. This era affects all walks of life, including sports, as cross country learned this season.
The girl’s team had two runners get quarantined in the conference meet, but they were back in time for the regional meet, overall making for a frustrating season. Zimmerman says it definitely impacted the season.
“The coronavirus made it a long season where you never know what was gonna happen, I think we’re up to eight runners, one manager and one coach that was quarantined,” Zimmerman said.
The boy’s team was impacted as well, losing one varsity runner for the regional meet, but coach Parent says avoiding being mad was key during this pandemic.
“Instead of being mad about the situation, about the times and mad about Covid, that’s not gonna really get me anywhere, so you just had to come up with a plan and realize, this is where we are,” Parent said.