OGDEN — Whoever taught Layton High senior cross country runner Davis Rydman to lean at the finish line at the end of a race is someone Rydman might want to thank after Wednesday’s Region 1 championship race.

Rydman won the boys individual championship at the Weber County Fairgrounds by a minuscule 0.01 seconds after leaning at the finish line and sticking his chest over the line, as Syracuse’s Jackson Spencer simultaneously pulled up next to him.

It was a literal photo finish.

“It’s crazy, I thought I had it and he obviously had a lot in him left; he was coming for me. I think if the course was like a meter longer, he would’ve had it,” Rydman said.

The race organizer needed a few minutes afterward to watch video replays from the finish line camera to discern who actually won.

There, one could see Rydman’s head first over the finish line while Spencer pulled up to stop his watch. More importantly, Rydman’s chest, on which he wore a race bib with an electronic tracking chip, was also first over the line.

The individual win helped Layton take home its first boys cross country region championship in school history. The Lancers’ five scoring runners all finished in the top 13.

Layton’s Joseph Burton came in at 12th place, followed closely by Elias Nalder, the team’s fifth scoring runner.

Nalder finished four seconds ahead of Farmington’s fourth runner and nearly 13 seconds ahead of FHS’ fifth scoring runner.

“Our coach is just incredible; she really installed a good work ethic on us. We all really committed ourselves and put in a lot of work this season and it’s starting to pay off,” Rydman said.

The varsity girls race set the tone for close finishes, as Weber nipped Fremont 48-50 for the team championship.

Fremont freshman Hailey Atwater won first place with a time of 18:48.75, just ahead of Davis freshman Isabella Cram. After those two, the chaos unfolded between Weber and Fremont.

In the team standings, Weber led Fremont at the 2-mile mark. Fremont took the lead shortly thereafter and Weber took it back at the end.

Eden Burton, Catherine Wald and Sarah Dye all finished in the top nine for the Warriors. It wasn’t until McCall Dalpais and Andenelle Marker finished 14th and 15th that they’d won the team title.

“It just feels amazing, we’ve worked really hard for this and it’s a season goal we’ve had since the beginning of the season,” Dye said.

One Warriors runner crossed the finish line and almost immediately turned around to watch a group of runners come in, and she cheered her teammates on. She had a feeling the race was close and she was right.

Fremont’s Abbie Baird crossed the finish line as the Silverwolves’ fourth scoring runner, and right after her came Dalpais (14th) and Marker (15th) back-to-back to secure the Warriors’ team win.

Any number of different outcomes in the top 15 — some runners were separated by tenths of a second — could’ve altered the team scoring.

“We knew that Fremont was right there, our competition, and yeah we just knew that we had to show up and race. I was really surprised. My dad pulled out the results, 48 to 50. I was like wow, it was really that close,” Dye said.

Weber won its first girls cross country region title since 2016 and the second since 1993, the latter being the last of 14 consecutive region titles from 1980-93.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

GIRLS

1. Hailey Atwater, Fremont, 18:48.75

2. Isabella Cram, Davis, 18:51.17

3. Skye Siddoway, Farmington, 19:03.13

4. Eden Burton, Weber, 19:15.14

5. Alexis Bradshaw, Farmington, 19:31.43

6. Catherine Wald, Weber, 19:43.88

7. Taylee Richards, Fremont, 19:50.18

8. Kennedy Hadley, Syracuse, 19:51.81

9. Sarah Dye, Weber, 19:52.01

10. Tai Aston, Farmington, 19:52.42

BOYS

1. Davis Rydman, Layton, 15:40.89

2. Jackson Spencer, Syracuse, 15:40.90

3. Isaac Lundberg, Davis, 15:47.37

4. Dalin Holje, Layton, 15:53.62

5. Landon Sturgeon, Farmington, 15:55.08

6. Izaac Crosland, Farmington, 16:05.51

7. Jonny Reed, Davis, 16:05.87

8. Jonathon Thornley, Layton, 16:09.37

9. Tyler Muirbrook, Farmington, 16:14.61

10. Gabe Trujillo, Davis, 16:16.57

TEAM SCORES

GIRLS

1. Weber, 48

2. Fremont, 50

3. Farmington, 58

4. Davis, 90

5. Syracuse, 131

6. Layton, 149

BOYS

1. Layton, 38

2. Farmington, 47

3. Davis, 61

4. Fremont, 96

5. Weber, 137

6. Syracuse, 154

REGION 5

LAYTON — Bonneville High junior Nicole Wayment won the Region 5 girls individual championship at Layton Commons Park on Wednesday with a time of 18:16.80, winning the race by a dominant 12.5 seconds. Lakers junior Sienna Barton took third in the race with a time of 18:40.20, grabbing third place by just 0.30 seconds.

Wayment and Barton helped Bonneville take third place as a team behind Viewmont and Box Elder. The Bees had four runners in the top 12, led by Kassidie Douglass in seventh place. Box Elder’s Macie Lee was eighth (19:05.50) and Clearfield’s Gretchen Higley took ninth with a time of 19:06.30 to help the Falcons take sixth as a team.

Northridge was led by Lexy Cluff-Baylon (15th, 19:36.70) and finished fifth, while Roy was led by Ruby Noorda (14th, 19:34.80) and took eighth as a team. Box Elder’s 56 points were just short of Viewmont’s 50 in the team title race.

On the boys side, Bonneville’s Anthony Gonzalez finished fourth with a time of 15:28.50, followed by Northridge freshman Jeffrey Hazard in fifth at 15:33. Zenock Larson led Box Elder in 11th place with a time of 15:49. Keoni Gumataotao (tied 37th) led Clearfield and Kaden Chase (39th) led Roy.

Northridge finished third as a team with 84 points and Box Elder was fourth with 102. Viewmont and Woods Cross tied for first with 43 points, but Viewmont won the region in the tiebreaker as its sixth scoring runner finished ahead of WX’s sixth scoring runner.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

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