|
|
Badger Cross Country improves at
competitive regional meet in Missoula |
|
September 23, 2015 |
An overnight trip to Missoula turned into a very
productive morning for the Badger cross country
teams on Saturday. The Mountain West Classic,
one of the premier high school races in the
northwestern United States, drew schools from
Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Montana. On a
beautiful Montana morning, races as large as 581
individuals representing over 50 teams made for
very active racing at all stages of the races.
The course was flat with the exception of a
large hill at the south end of the course that
led to a ½ mile of gradual downhill. This,
coupled with ideal weather conditions, made for
the Badgers’ fastest times of the season.
Starting the day off for Bonners Ferry was the
boys JV team. Sam Gorton was the first Badger
across the finish with a time of 21:13 followed
closely by Ryne Rae with a 21:14. Samuel Smith
finished with a 21:22. Although only separated
by 8 seconds there were 11 places between Smith
and Rae. Senior Louis Balcaen also came in under
22 minutes with a 21:43. In his first ever cross
country race, junior TJ Smith posted a 22:03.
“Pace was hard,” said TJ of his race, “I went
out a little fast, but felt alright.” Alex
Urbaniak came in for a season best 23:32, making
seven minutes of improvement from his first race
of the season. “You can really see the pieces
coming together for Alex,” said head coach Tyler
Warner.
In the 413 person boys’ varsity race, the
winning time would be a blistering 15:07 by
Brody Smith from Cody, Wyoming. The Badgers
would hold their own, however, posting team
scores that would best Priest River, Missoula
Big Sky, and Billings Central, the latter two
teams being in Montana’s highest school
divisions. Alva Swanson would post the best time
for the Badgers in Missoula, running a solid
18:37 followed by fellow senior Nolan Stidham at
18:39. Senior Jack Wade in his return to the
varsity squad would post an 18:58. Sophomore
Dawson Thomas would battle freshman Jamin
Bontrager at the finish, coming in at 19:05 and
19:06 respectively. Early in the race Dawson
fell and had a racing spike rake across his
hand, but was able to recover and move back up.
“I think if he hadn’t fallen Dawson would have
broken that 19 minute barrier as well,” said
coach Warner. “For Jamin to be running that well
is also a great sign for his future with us. He
could be really good as his career goes on.”
Eric Ellis would post a 19:31 and Nick Magdaleno
would round out the Badger runners with a 20:52.
The Lady Badgers varsity squad would finish a
successful day for Bonners Ferry. Jordan Young
would run a 21:18 for her fastest time in her
first-ever cross country season. Senior Hannah
Lysne would run a 22:57 and Sophomore Ada
Bonnell would cross at 24:48. Lauren Stidham
would finish in 25:30.
With a healthy dose of personal and season bests
under their belts, the Badgers get a week off
from racing to focus on training. “This should
boost our confidence a lot,” said coach Warner.
“We’ve got a week to work on more fine tuning
for the second half of our season. This kind of
trip helps us mentally and really helped our
team building. I think they all grew closer
together this week and they’re reaping the
benefits of hard work lately.”
The Badgers will resume racing on October 1 at
Priest River, and two days later will travel to
Moscow. |
|
|
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
