Even if the Cottonwood cross country head coach was only named in the middle of the preseason, the Colts showed at the Region 10 championships that they’re going to be a force to deal with come next year after a fifth-place finish. 

“I’m proud of our effort today,” said Cottonwood head coach Jiree Riding, who is in his first year at Cottonwood. “While the placement wasn’t what we aimed for, this is a young team with real upside.”  

Leading the way for the Colts were junior Turner Hamel (14th), followed by junior Damien Fernandes (23rd), Elijah Leek (32nd), senior Samuel Frew (33rd), sophomore Logan Fogg (41st), Caleb Hill (42nd) and Dylan Merryweather (54).

On the girls’ side, senior Sunny Evans finished 29th out of 40 runners at the Region 10 championships, while Sunny Seydel was 31st and senior Paulina Garrido, 32nd. 

Riding, who was hired shortly after new Athletic Director James MacIntyre was in place, was a Division I NCAA runner at Southern Utah University. A native of Ethiopia, Riding’s family settled in Orem when he was young and he prepped there, winning three state championships. Riding also ran a 14:30 on a 3-mile course in high school. 

Leading up to the region championships, the Colts competed at the Deseret Peak Invitational in Tooele Sept. 18. Junior Turner Hamel finished in 16th place in 17 minutes, 45 seconds. Leek and Merryweather were 28th and 29th at Dow Jones Memorial Park. Senior Samuel Frew crossed the line in 33rd, and sophomore Logan Fogg was 37th. Junior Damien Fernandes was 41st and Reece Hamel was 42nd. 

As a team, the Colts finished in fourth place, ahead of four other schools including 5A Cyprus and Kearns. Cottonwood finished the race with an 18:26 average. 

At the Border Wars race, the Colts competed against 33 other schools Sept. 13 and yet they still got a 54th place finish from Turner Hamel. Damien Fernandes was 120th, Dylan Merryweather 132nd and senior Grant Adams 173rd. Logan Fogg and senior Grant Brooks were 176th and 177th. Teamwise, the Colts finished 22nd out of 34 schools, just behind Highland and ahead of Judge Memorial, East and Murray. They ran the 5K course at Valley Regional Park in Taylorsville with an 18:12 average time. 

At the Park City Invitational’s PM session Sept. 5, the Colts got a 56th place finish from Turner Hamel. Leek and Merryweather crossed in 86th and 87th, Fernandes was 89th, Brooks 91st and Fogg was 97th. As a team, the Colts were 12th out of 15 teams, averaging a time of 19:12. 

To shave one full minute off their time in eight days, and go from finishing in the bottom of the team standings in late August in Orem and Payson to the middle of the pack in September shows these Colts indeed have promise, though Cottonwood’s new head coach admits that the time for most of these student-athletes will likely come down the line. 

In the meantime, with the Divisionals and the 4A state championships ahead, as well as training in the spring where Riding will also oversee Cottonwood’s track team, the Colts appear to be in good hands with this three-time state champion. 

For Riding, he’s not satisfied with this progress — he’d like to see more during this team-building — but said he does look forward to the process. 

“With six of seven varsity athletes returning next year, we’re excited to keep rebuilding and raising the standard,” Riding said.