The hundreds of supporters watching the annual Davis District high school cross country championships at Layton Commons Park on Sept. 18 might have thought they heard the jet engines from some F-35s from Hill Air Base, but what they may have actually heard was Peter Gehring.

The Viewmont senior “blazed” his way to victory in the boys varsity race in a time of 13:31.94, well ahead of second-place Landon Sturgeon of Farmington at 13:45.36. Gehring led the Vikings to the team title in the annual event, as Viewmont finished with 35 team points to second-place Davis’ 54 points.

In the girls varsity race, it was Farmington freshman Ellie Dorius with her best race of the season, finishing first in a time of 16:09.03, just ahead of Woods Cross senior Katie Hansen at 16:11.25.

On a beautiful “almost” fall afternoon, runners from all Davis District high schools traversed the 2.75 mile course as the cross country season neared its midpoint. The Davis girls edged out Viewmont for the team title with a score of 44 to the Vikings’ 45. There were solid performances all around.

Dorius and Hansen broke away from two other runners – Viewmont’s Alyssa Clayton and Davis’ Isabella Cram, in the final mile of the race. Clayton finished third at 16:16.12 and Cram fourth at 16:21.62. Farmington coach Ben Jacobson praised Dorius for her performance. The Darts edged the Vikings for the team title with a “lean” at the end of the sixth-seventh place finish. Freshman Erin Christensen of Davis beat Viewmont senior Andrey Lemon by six-tenths of a second in a great finish by both at 17:04 and change.

The rest of the top 10 medalists in the girls race were Davis senior Helen Glaze in fifth at 16:56.27, Viewmont senior Tempe Anderson in eighth (17:07.01), Layton senior Katie Ormsby in ninth (17:10.78) and Syracuse senior Kennedy Hadley in 10th (17:18.17).

Following Gehring and Sturgeon in the boys varsity race were these medalists: Jonny Reed, Davis senior, in third at 13:47.20, Viewmont senior Talmage Bruscke in fourth at 13:47.21, Layton senior Jonathan Thornley in fifth at 13:52.41, Viewmont junior Ayden Lee in sixth (14:00.75), Davis sophomore Harrison Skousen in seventh (14:02.58), Farmington sophomore Hudson Scott in eighth (14:03.40), Viewmont junior Sam Hooper in ninth (14:04.41) and Woods Cross junior Sam Phippen in 10th (14:04.62)

In boys team scoring, Viewmont and Davis were followed by Layton, Farmington, Woods Cross, Syracuse, Bountiful, Clearfield and Northridge. In the girls team race, Davis and Viewmont were followed by Woods Cross, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, Bountiful, Clearfield and Northridge.

There were also two huge JV races. The Viewmont girls placed six runners in the top seven, led by junior Brooklyn Brady. The Vikings finished with 17 team points, nearly a perfect score (15 is perfect in the sport where low score wins). Viewmont also had the top four finishers in JV boys, with junior Nick Placido taking first place. The Vikings had just 20 points in the boys race.

Many of these runners will return to this same Layton course for their respective regional races in early October, as the season heads toward state finals to be held Oct. 30 in a return to Sugar House Park.