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Badger cross country at Plantes Ferry  meet
September 24, 2014
Warm sunny days can be pleasant in late September, unless you are running a race. Temperatures reached the mid-80’s and the evaporating morning dew gave off a humid feel as the runners raced at Plantes Ferry in Spokane, Washington. Battling against the heat and high-level competition, the Badger cross country team gave it their best shot and managed to post some notable performances. The 5.2k course featured wide open spaces that made for a tough mental battle, especially in the heat.



The freshmen started off the day for Bonners Ferry. Andrew McCoy posted a personal best, dropping 7 seconds off his previous best to finish in 25:44.66. Neil Martin posted the best freshman time, 21:34, and took 17th place overall in a race featuring 165 freshmen runners.


In the boys’ varsity race, Tucker Cavender had perhaps the gutsiest performance of the day. On grassy courses runners usually wear spiked running shoes to provide extra traction. Early in the race another runner unintentionally spiked Cavender in the knee and he fell. In spite of this setback, Cavender climbed back to his feet and still finished in 19:55. Jacob Perkins continued a stellar season, finishing in 18:02 and taking 25th overall. In a regular 5k race, Perkins time probably would have been in the 17 minute range. Eric Ellis also showed a lot of guts in the last 200m of the race. With one runner directly in front of him and two more about fifteen meters ahead, Ellis found his 6th gear and caught 2 of the runners and barely missed catching the third.

At the hottest part of the day, the Lady Badgers rounded out the racing in Spokane. Sporting socks featuring the Seattle skyline, Nicole Donn finished in 25:10. Victoria Smith was not far behind her teammate, finishing in 27:35.



The cross country team now gets a week to recover. Their next meet will be October 2nd in Priest River for the Ivan Benson Invite at Priest River Lamanna High School. That same weekend they will make the long trip to Moscow for the Bob Weisle Invite on October 4th.

(see times for top finishers below this photo)


Freshmen
Neil Martin 21:34
Nick Magdaleno 24:46
Will Colson 25:44.15
Andrew McCoy 25:44.66

Boys' Varsity
Jacob Perkins 18:02
Alva Swanson 19:53
Tucker Cavender 19:55
Nolan Stidham 20:52
Jack Wade 21:21
Eric Ellis 22:31
Alex Urbaniak 28:09

Girls' Varsity
Nicole Donn 25:10
Victoria Smith 27:35
Amanda Bauer 29:44
 
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