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Bonneville's Kestle Eames and Ogden's Avery Barton greet one another following the girls race during the 2025 City-County Cross Country Championships on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Harrisville.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ogden's Avery Barton charges through the final stretch of the girls race at the 2025 City-County cross country championships on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Harrisville.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Weber's Catherine Wald on pace for second place in the girls race during the 2025 City-County Cross Country Championships on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Harrisville.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Bonneville's Kestle Eames and Ogden's Avery Barton greet one another following the girls race during the 2025 City-County Cross Country Championships on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Harrisville.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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HARRISVILLE — After a spectacular finish to her sophomore campaign, Ogdenite distance runner Avery Barton waited patiently until Wednesday’s City-County Cross Country Championships before officially kicking off her junior season at the varsity level.

The defending City-County girls champion and two-time state qualifier transferred from Bonneville to Ogden this school year for academic reasons, and the change came at the cost of competing at the sport’s highest level for a few meets.

It also meant a delay in competing with her former teammates, specifically Bonneville senior Kestle Eames, until Wednesday afternoon at the Weber County Fairgrounds.

Such anticipation wasn’t fully understood until Barton, finishing first individually with a time of 16:56.18, and Eames, following Weber’s Cartherine Wald to complete the top three, joined arms behind the finish line. Barton had just won the second City-County event of her career, but that was hardly the topic of conversation between two longtime competitors and friends.

“It’s been really hard,” Barton said. “I’ve been running with all the (Ogden) boys, so it’s not that bad, but I always miss doing workouts with her and our former teammate, Nichole (Wayment).”

Barton and Eames are the remaining pillars of a Bonneville program reshaped by graduation, and one that no longer pairs the duo on the same roster. Competing in 3A, Ogden will only meet Bonneville in one other race this season, still to be determined.

On the same state team as Eames last spring, Barton finished second individually in the 1600-meter race and fourth in the 3200 meters at the 5A state track championships in Provo. Last fall, Barton finished fifth individually at the 5A state cross country championships in Salt Lake City.

Eames, a senior, ran her fourth race of the season Wednesday, but the previous three didn’t feel quite right without Barton on the starting line. It’s also the final time the pair will share the fairgrounds course at the prep level.

“Whenever I run this course, I feel slower than normal,” Barton said.

“The rolling hills are hard,” Eames added. “I do like the (end), and that last bit is really flat, and you can see the finish line for a long time. We’re really familiar with it, and that’s what makes it hard with some other courses because you get caught up in whether I need to slow down, but with this course, you know exactly where you’re at and it does feel familiar.”

Perhaps less familiar are Eames’ surroundings during her senior season, which brings along an air of positive, new change, but a clear absence of the classes that preceded her and Barton over the past three years.

“We would run together a lot,” Eames said. “Then, all of our other teammates graduated, and so then we’re like the only two left, and it’s been a hard transition. I love my new team and it’s been really good. But it’s still hard, the change.”

South of Washington Terrace, Barton is acclimating to a new season in a new program. She’s working directly with Ogden coach Merrilee Blackham, a Southern Utah alum with an extensive running background, to stay the course and make another run at state this fall.

“She understands where I’m at as a runner and what I need to become a good runner,” Barton said. “(Blackham)’s trained a lot of different runners and she’s been super successful. She knows what I need, understands me super well and understands my schedule. It’s very compatible.”

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL TOP 10

1. Avery Barton, Ogden, 17:57.15

2. Catherine Wald, Weber, 19:19.51

3. Kestle Eames, Bonneville, 19:36.67

4. Kate Lang, Weber, 20:07.09

5. McKell Jensen, Weber, 20:08.81

6. Gracie Rodarte, Weber, 20:13.89

7. Kaitlyn Yerka, West Field, 20:22.01

8. Chanlee Norton, Fremont 20:26.09

9. Kennedy Hansen, Fremont 20:38.05

10. Adelaide Hale, Weber 20:48.15

GIRLS TEAM FINISH

1. Weber

2. Fremont

3. Ogden

4. West Field

5. Roy

6. Morgan

Ben Lomond and Bonneville did not qualify for a team score.

Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.