Emily Person had her first cross-country meet go off without a hitch.

At least so she thought until after she crossed the finish line.

The Rapid City Stevens freshman finished second behind sophomore and teammate Tamara Gorman as the two Raiders looked initially to be the top two finishers at the Douglas Early Bird Meet in Box Elder Friday morning.

Initially being the key word, because both runners were disqualified after unknowingly veering off track and cutting in front of a tree they were supposed to go around.

Event organizers said that fans were too close to the white line that marks the boundaries of the course, which in turn confused the runners and caused go them off line for a couple seconds before trying to correct their mistake and go back around the tree.

The disqualification held up, erasing Gorman’s time of 15:45.91 and Person’s 16:10.9, leaving Tia Carlson of Kadoka Area as the girls’ winner with a time of 16:24.52 in the 5K.

“The golf cart got really far out in front of us, then we couldn’t see it,” Person said. “And I was just following Tamara, and we accidentally cut across a corner. You couldn’t really see the lines. When you’re running you don’t really think about where you’re running, you just go.”

Person, fresh off her 800 meter championship at last spring’s state track tournament, and was still pleased with her run even though in the official times, her race never occurred.

“I’ve never run cross country before. This is the first year I’ve ever run. This is actually the first time I’ve ever seen a cross country setting, so it’s all new to me,” she said.

Savannah Childers of Spearfish ran a 16:31 to finish second. Makala Diggs from Douglas took third, Spearfish’s Gretchen Blain was fourth and Destiny Beautiful Bald Eagle of Cheyenne Eagle Butte rounded out the top five.

Notably absent on the boys side was Central’s Tony Smoragiewicz. The senior said he was taking the meet off while he trains for the World Junior Triathlon Championships in China in two weeks.

But a Cobbler still got close to breaking the tape at the end.

Eric Sanders of Central got his year off to a great opening display, finishing second with a time of 17:35:38 to Cody Herman of Custer, who ran a 17:28 to best the field.

“It was good for a starting point,” Sanders said. “It’s only going to get better.”

His time should help improve the one aspect he’s trying to work on as the season progresses.
“This will give me confidence that I can keep up with top runners,” he said.

Dyson Lends His Horse from Cheyenne Eagle Butte came in third, Colten Njos of Belle Fourche placed fourth and Sturgis’ Jacob Simmons was fifth. Stevens’ Kyle Burdick took sixth with his run of 18:16.61.