Priest River and Moscow
Head Coach, BFHS Cross Country
Cross country season is half way over after the Badgers ran two meets in three days last week. On Thursday the Badgers competed at Priest River’s Ivan Benson Invite and on Saturday made the long trip to Moscow for the Bob Weisel Invite. In addition to facing 2A and other 3A schools, Bonners Ferry Runners received competition from 4A schools Lakeland on Thursday and Moscow on Saturday.
At Priest River the races were divided into a boys’ race and girls’ race with no JV or varsity designations. In the girls’ race on Thursday, the Lady Badgers competed against a small field and ultimately succumbed to the sheer numbers of Lakeland. Despite coming up short in the points category the race was not without success. Nicole Donn and Lauren Stidham battled to the finish line, coming in at 24:53.01 and 24:53.00 respectively. Ada Bonnell came in at 24:10 for a 13th place finish. Breaking into the top ten was Hannah Lysne at 8th place with her career best 23:01. The fastest Lady Badger was newcomer Jordan Young, finishing in second with a time of 21:30.
Facing more competition than the ladies, the Badger boys gave Priest River a run for their money. Alex Urbaniak had a late surge to finish in 24:40 for his best time this season. Sophomore Ryne Rae came in at 21:46, just behind junior TJ Smith who finished in 21:44. Junior Sam Smith would post a 21:28 and senior
Louis
Balcaen would finish at 21:21. Freshman Sam
Gorton finished the 5k in 21:10. Bonners Ferry’s
7th and 6th runners were Nick Magdaleno, who
finished in 20:06, and Eric Ellis, who ran a
19:49. The scoring 5 began with Alva Swanson who
ran in 19:24. Battling a cold as well as a large
field, Dawson Thomas finished in 19:18. Breaking
into the top 10 was freshman Jamin Bontrager
with an impressive 18:54. Senior Jack Wade took
5th place and an 18:27 finish. The fastest
Badger of the day was Nolan Stidham with a
fantastic 18:03. Every Bonners Ferry runner posted either a season best or a career best. In the team scoring, the Lady Badgers finished 2nd behind Lakeland. Kellogg, the only other complete team, finished 3rd. The Badger boys would also take second, beating Lakeland, Intervalley Christian Academy, Kellogg, and Newport. Priest River defeated Bonners Ferry 45-46 for the 1st place trophy. “To lose by one point is tough,” said Coach Warner. “The experience we gained is great though. Having Lakeland here to help push the field was great and Jordan really got pushed in the girls race because of it. We were one or two healthy runners away from having victories on both teams.”
At Moscow the pieces came together again. “Moscow is a great equalizer course,” Middle School Coach Paul Bonnell said. “The terrain is very hilly, full of twists and turns. It puts everyone at a level playing field.” The boys JV team started the day for the high school boys. On the tough course, Alex Urbaniak finished in 26:43. Breaking into the top 10, Louis Balcaen would finish in 22:50 for 8th place and Ryne Rae would take 7th place with a 22:35. Freshman Sam Gorton took the 3rd place medal and a 21:57 finish. Junior Sam Smith would post the Badgers first overall win of the season, taking the 1st place medal with a 21:41. Despite having 4 other teams present, only Bonners Ferry and Moscow had complete teams, with the Badgers getting the first team win of the season. From then on, the talk around the meet was about the Badgers. “We started hearing people ask, ‘Who are the Badgers?’ and ‘Where did these guys come from?’” said Alva Swanson. That was just the beginning of the talk.
In the girls varsity race, only four girls competed, but would make their presence felt. In 12th place Lauren Stidham ran the difficult race in 26:30. The 8th place medal went to Senior Hannah Lysne who ran a 25:14. Teammate Ada Bonnell would battle hard against Prairie High School’s Kylie Tidwell for a time of 24:56, good for 7th. After the race Ada would congratulate her competitor and they even took pictures together in a display of sportsmanship. Jordan Young would take 3rd with a 22:49. “We were so proud of our girls’ team,” said Warner. “They’re really putting pieces together out there.”
In the boys’ varsity race the Badgers would get people talking again. Bonners Ferry’s Nick Magdaleno would post a 22:22 and Eric Ellis would take a 20:51. Alva Swanson took 17th with a 20:28. Then came in the pack of Badgers. 12th through 9th place would be dominated by Bonners Ferry. Jack Wade would take 12th with 19:51, Jamin Bontrager 11th with 19:43, Nolan Stidham 10th with 19:39, and Dawson Thomas was 9th with 19:39. “The pack was huge,” said coach Bonnell after the race. “The boys just owned those places and blocked everyone else out.” Out of 5 complete teams Bonners Ferry finished second with 49 points. 3rd place Potlach finished with 77. The Moscow Bears received tough competition from the Badgers, winning with 39 points.
“For us to do this well on these courses against these teams means good things for us,” said Coach Warner. “We got pushed and responded well. Things are really looking up in October, which is exactly when we want to start getting hot. Districts and State are at the end of the month, so this is great.” Afterwards a Moscow assistant approached Coach Bonnell and remarked, “We’ll be watching you guys for the rest of the season. Nice work.”
The Badgers race again on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at Traver’s Park in Sandpoint.