Although not quite at full strength, the Bartlesville High School cross country teams will gain invaluable measuring stick at Saturday’s Sapulpa meet.

This will be the first individually-timed race of the season, although the distance will be only two miles instead of the standard 5K (3.1 miles) the Bartlesville pacers should run in the remainder of meets.

The lineup for the Bartlesville Lady Bruins in Sapulpa’s girls’ run will be returning All-Stater Gentry Turner, Emily Lechuga, Kate Manley, Reese Savage, Emma Perry, Olivia Ontiveros and K.K. Taylor.

Manley and Savage are both new varsity members as freshmen.

Absent, due to another sports’ obligation, will be returning varsity battler Lauren Shoesmith, who would have likely lined up in the top five, Bartlesville head cross country coach David Ayres said.

Running for the Bruin varsity in the boys’ competition will be Tehi Chibitty, Reed Gorman, Russell Miller, Jackson Boudreaux, Jesse Espinal-Cruz, Kayden Reyes and Cade Winter.

Bartlesville’s prospective No. 1 runner Tanner John won’t be available, Ayres said.

Boudreaux is a freshman and brother of former Bartlesville track gold medalist James Boudreaux (4x800m relay, 2019).

Reyes is a team captain.

Bartlesville boys don’t have anyone that qualified for the 2021 Class 6A boys state cross country meet.

On the girls side, of the varsity lineup this Saturday, Turner, Lechuga and Perry all competed in the 2021 girls state meet.

Rachael Landers is this years’ girls captain.

With so many state qualifiers back overall, plus other talented runners in the mix, expectations for memorable season for the Lady Bruins ranks in the promising range.

Unfortunately, Friday won’t really provided a telling scenario, due to the incomplete lineup and shorter distance.

One of the main positives about Saturday’s competition is that Bartlesville girls will have an opportunity to see where they match-up head-to-head early in the season with a very strong Tulsa Union crew, Ayres said.

“This is probably the most depth we’ve had in a long time,” Ayres added. “We’ll see where we preform.”

Ayres said he figures there will be up to 10 girls competing throughout the season to earn one of the Lady Bruins’ seven varsity spots, and six to nine boys in and out of varsity for the Bruins.

How the Bartlesville boys fare against Union will be one of Ayres’ objectives for Saturday.

“(Union) is a team our guys will have to beat to get to state,” Ayres explained.

Ayres looks forward to the Broken Arrow meet on Sept. 10 when the course will be the regulation 5K length.