T Falls has last race before state

Danielle Switalski

The Thomson Falls Cross Country team got lucky with perfect fall weather conditions at the Runner’s Edge, or Loyola Invitational on Thursday in Missoula at the University Golf Course.

The runners were able to get a taste of what they will be facing at the State meet next Saturday as this is the same course they will be running.  Times were a bit slower this week for the high school runners as the second mile of the course was somewhat mushy slowing the runners down.  Head Coach Sarah Naegeli said weather conditions should be the same at the state meet, but as a bonus the team has experience running the course and will know what to expect.

The high school girl’s team finished fourth as a team behind class AA schools, Hellgate, Sentinel and Big Sky.  Beca Gunderson led the team taking 13th with a time of 20:41, Monica Conlin was next in line with a time of 20:45 and came in 16th.  Jeffreyanne Parker was tailing Conlin, coming in at 17th with a time of 20:48.  Mariah Naegeli finished 26th with a time powerful running games of Eureka, Loyola and Fairfield.

Offensively, the Bluehawks stars had good numbers in the game with Wood snatching seven balls for 115 yards and fellow Wide Receiver Stephen Block catching five balls for 56 yards. Senior Richard Lyons had 67 yards on 13 carries and Dalby was 16-31 and 185 yards throwing the ball.

Despite the final score the Bluehawks did block an extra point, had two sacks and recovered one fumble on defense. Lyons led the team with 13 tackles.

Thompson Falls finishes up their season this week at Troy, and are looking for their second win of the year. As the Trojan offense focuses more on passing the ball, Coach Padden expects them to be a much better matchup for the Bluehawks and expects a close game.