Park City's head coach saw the numbers being added up and walked away before it was even official. He slapped his hands together and screamed, "We got it."
He walked over to his group of seven Miners and told them the same news they'd heard for the previous four years: Park City was the champion of 3A girls' cross country.
For the fifth-straight year, Park City earned the state crown, its 10th in the last 11 years.
And just as they did in 2011, the Miners bested the Ogden Tigers at the Utah State Cross-Country Championships held at Sugar House Park, but this year it was no surprise that Park City came out on top -- the Miners earned it and celebrated like they'd just won their first state crown.
"This one is up there because this was a match race with another great team," Wyant said. "Ogden is nationally ranked; we're nationally ranked. Some years we've won it easy, this wasn't one of them. (Ogden) made it hard.
"They wanted it. They came to play hard. They have focused on this for the whole season. We knew Ogden was great and they've beat us before, but we were looking for it today."
On top of that, Park City cemented its position as the fastest girls' 3A team in Utah high school history, finishing with a combined team time of 1:33:52.1. This year's team fell short of the all-time 1A-5A state record for combined team time by two seconds, held by the 1999 Bingham High School Miners (1:33:50.8).
"This is one of the fastest teams ever assembled in Utah," Wyant said.
The Miners were led by seniors Annie Orr and Ali Walker. Orr finished third overall with a time of 18:16.3, while Walker came in fourth (18:24.8). Sophomore Alyssa Snyder set a Utah high school state record for the fastest time ever by a sophomore, running an 18:31.2 and finishing fifth.
Junior Sophie McDonald (9th overall, 19:01.5), senior Emily Schmitt (16th, 19:38.3), freshman Leah Lange (18th, 19:52.2) and sophomore Summer Dvorak (19th, 20:04.8) were also part of the Park City Seven that helped bring another 3A trophy to the halls of Park City High School. Finishing behind the Miners (36), was Ogden (44) and third-place Cedar (96).
Orr said the team held a meeting Tuesday to talk about how to continue the streak. She said if each runner did her job, they'd be champions once again.
"I think that's why we won and why I did so well is because we have such a tight team," she said. "We talked about it (Tuesday) and said, 'This race is not about us, it's about the team as a whole and we want to run as a team and win as a team.'
"We all did it. We all did our jobs."
Coming into the state meet, Walker said she felt like Orr could have a memorable afternoon and thought her good friend and fellow senior leader could finish ahead of her.
"I'm happy," she said. "Annie out-kicked me, but she's my teammate and she's been catching up to me all season. I'm so proud of her."
While Park City will lose three key seniors in Walker, Orr and Schmitt, the team will once again be loaded next season, thanks in large part to talented underclassmen who should return for a go at No. 6 in 2013.
"If you've got a girl that's athletic enough and determined enough and self-reliant enough, we'll train them and we can get them out there," Wyant said. "That's what we've got in Park City. We've got a lot of people that are into non-traditional sports and fitness and things like that. If we can get the girls (in Park City), we can make them into good runners."
Walker called it "part luck, part hard work" when asked to assess how Park City is able to reload year. She attributed this year's success to how tight-knit the team was. Throughout the season and the off-season, Walker, Orr and other team leaders would be on the horn each night before training or a race to talk regimens or gameplans.
"When I was a freshman or sophomore, we were close, but I never felt part of the team when I was that young," she said. "We were all friends, but we weren't family."
Looking forward to 2013, Wyant said Ogden loses four seniors opposed to Park City's three, but said it will, once again, come down to the newfound rivals.
"Us and Ogden again," he said. "And we'll both reload."
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