Runners stay strong in cold and wind

Danielle Switalski

The wintry weather conditions did not stop the Thompson Falls cross country runners from staying strong at the Whitefish Invitational this past Saturday.

The course, described by Sarah Naegeli was a “nice, flat course,” which gave the runners a little bit of leverage while they battled the unexpected cold and harsh winds throughout the race.

The girls team took second place at the meet and despite the weather some of the girls went home with their personal bests.  Monica Conlin managed to get her personal best time of 20:06 and ran a strong race. 

“Monica definitely had the race of the day for the girls.  Her third mile was just awesome, she looked strong, relaxed and quick,” said Naegeli. 

Jinghua Chen also dropped her time by an entire minute on Saturday ending the race with a 26:34 time.  Beca Gunderson led the pack and took 10th place in the race with a time of 20 minutes flat.  Her teammates were not far behind as Conlin took 11th place, Jefferyanne Parker took 12th place with a time of 20:41, Mariah Naegeli came in 14th with a time of 20:51, Karen Noahson took 23rd with a time of 22:58 and Nicole Ribeiro ended the race with a time of 36:34.

“Another great day for the girls team,” said Naegeli.

The boys team finished seventh at the invitational and Naegeli said Preston Schubert had the big race of the day finishing in 25th place with a time of 18:38.

“Preston had the race to be commended for the boys.  His third mile was also the place where he picked it up and passed the people,” said Naegeli.

Mike Barnett also had a strong race despite the cold wind the runners had to battle in to.  Barnett led the boys pack and took 23rd place with a time of 18:28.  Cody White, Chris Pavlik and Dalton Nelson were not far behind and took places 31, 33 and 48.

Lucas Gruwell led the final stretch to drop the game.

The third game was more of the same as the Trotters traded runs and points with Mission.

Plains once again started out on top leading 10-6.

It wasn’t until 13-12 that Mission took their first lead of the third game and then had a run to widen their lead to 19-13. However strong serving from Kayla Revier brought the Trotters back into the game with a score of 20-21.

However, a 4-1 run by Mission put the game away.

When Plains was at their best was when they were backed by strong serving, especially from Earhart and Hermiston who had four aces apiece.

“Serving pretty much starts the whole game out. It either wins the game or loses the game for you,” says Hermiston of the importance of serving.

Plains finished the day with 26 digs, seven from both Earhart and Nikki Kunzer. Laurel Danhof finished the day with two blocks and five kills and Earhart and Kunzer had six and five assists respectively.