Even shorthanded, the Park City High School cross-country team continued to perform well against some of the state’s top teams.

The Miners impressed again at last Friday’s Murray Invitational 5K at Murray Park, even though one of the team’s best runners had to attend a school function. Park City bested its 3A rival Cedar High School and kept pace with the typical target 4A/5A schools, according to head coach Jeff Wyant.

“We did pretty well,” Wyant said. “We beat Cedar without our No. 2 guy, so we should be OK.”

Wyant continued on saying that his team’s depth always makes a difference because his third, fourth and fifth runners are traditionally better than the opposition’s.

“We have depth on both teams,” he said. “The kids definitely had good races that will get us ready for our big upcoming races.”

The Miners head to Idaho in two weeks to face off against the top teams in the Northwest and Wyant believes his squad is on track for a good performance with these positive results over the past few weeks.

Going up against the top team in the nation won’t hurt, either.

Friday’s meet in Provo will feature American Fork, a team that Wyant sees as a superpower, but he knows his team can only benefit from the competition.

“You don’t go into it with expectations,” he said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the nation. It will give us someone to run with and keep up with.”

Super-sophomore Ben Saarel continues to open eyes and Wyant believes his talents will just progress as he gets more experience. Saarel finished third overall at the Murray Invitational with a time of 15 minutes and 14 seconds.

“To take third at a meet of that caliber as a sophomore is underheard of,” Wyant said. “He has a steep learning curve, but he got through the training fatigue and is racing faster. He’s among the most elite that there is.”

Fellow sophomore Ali Walker continued to lead the girls’ team as she took 12th place with a time of 18 minutes, 31 seconds. Junior Rebecca Cunningham wasn’t too far behind coming in 17th with a time of 18 minutes and 40 seconds.

“They’re a pretty darn good one-two punch,” Wyant said.