Racing
against teams as far away as Teton High School
and teams as large as Capital, Borah, and
northern power teams like Sandpoint, Coeur d’
Alene and others, the Badgers saw a great deal
of competition from the broad spectrum of Idaho
teams.The boys JV race started the Badger's day with Jack Wade fighting his way to a 30th place finish and a time of 19:28. Sam Smith, a first year runner, posted a 21:31 in his first race ever. Brad Corson, a sophomore also running in his first race, struggled with pace early, but rallied for a 22:04 on the 5k course. Ryne Rae, feeling more comfortable in his second race, posted a 22:12 in the run. Senior Louis Balcaen finished in 22:35 and Alex Urbaniak improved by 4 minutes from last week, finishing in 26:10. All times for the JV squad were either personal or season bests. Notable teams outrun by the Badgers were the JV teams of Moscow, Lake City, and Lewiston.
The girls varsity team raced next. Every girl also posted either season bests or career bests. Jordan Young, ran a solid 21:34 in only her second race. Senior Hannah Lysne was the next Badger to finish at 24:19. Ada Bonnell met her goal of breaking 25 minutes in 5k by running 24:59. Junior Nicole Donn ran a 25:54 for her best this season and freshman Lauren Stidham would also run a personal best 26:53.
The boys varsity team would fare much better this week against Intermountain League foes Priest River and Kellogg. Nolan Stidham led the way with a solid 19:18. Sophomore Dawson Thomas came in at 19:42 while freshman Jamin Bontrager nearly broke the 20 minute barrier with a 20:05. Senior Alva Swanson was just behind Jamin at 20:07. Eric Ellis’ season best 20:31 was next. Less than a minute later Nick Magdaleno finished at 21:29 and freshman Sam Gorton finished at 21:57. The Badgers, 20th place overall, beat Priest River by exactly 100 points and Kellog by 116 points. Timberlake was the best Intermountain League team
present, scoring 283 points for 9th out of 24
full teams.“We showed significant gains this week,” head coach Tyler Warner said. “Nearly every person on the team either improved their times from last week or had a career best. Jack and Alex really improved their times, they learned from last week and applied it in those JV races. I’m really excited to see how we do on this course in late October.”
The Badgers will travel to Missoula this Saturday to race in the Mountain West Classic. The race will feature some of the best teams from Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Races begin at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.