Montgomery leads Plains with 2nd place finish

Tony Banovich for the Valley Press

It was a gorgeous day in the Tobacco Valley as Lincoln County High School hosted the Eureka Invitational on Friday, September 11th. Held at the new Indian Springs Ranch Golf Course and surrounded by the Whitefish Range and Purcell and Salish Mountains, the course featured a mix of grass, gravel cart paths and dirt trails. With a couple of hills thrown into the mix in the second mile, it was an honest and challenging high school cross country course.

The Horsemen were led by the strong performance of Carter Montgomery, who ran stride for stride with Dylan Day of Eureka from the gun until about 300 meters to go. The home course advantage seemed to be the difference as Day ultimately pulled away for a 15 second victory. Coach Tony Banovich noted that “the race between Carter and Dylan was super exciting. Carter had a great race and picked up some important lessons on race tactics.” Montgomery’s time of 17:17 put him over a minute clear of the 3rd place finisher.

Finishing again as the team’s number 2 man, Robert Earhart had another solid, steady race, his 19:45 time earning him a 7th place finish. After running near Earhart in the first few miles, Kenneth Beech held on for an 11th place finish in 20:24. “I was really happy with the performances of Robert and Kenneth” said Banovich. “Robert ran another intelligent race and moved up through the pack throughout the race. And, I was really pleased with Kenneth’s run, since this was his first meet of the year.” Rounding out the Horsemen squad was Dusty Baker, finishing 22nd in 23:24. Banovich indicated that “Dusty got out a little too quickly; but, he did a great job of maintaining his effort to the finish. His fitness is really starting to come around and I think he’ll be sub-20 minutes by the end of the season.”

“The kids were all a bit tired after the fair last weekend, their first full week of school and no real rest yet in our training” said Banovich. “Add to that the hills and the heat, and I was super pleased with the way that the kids performed today. I’m really excited to see how we progress as our fitness improves, the weather cools down a bit and we start to race in some of the bigger meets.”

For the Trotters, Zoe Banovich made the most of her first meet of the year, leading the girl’s squad with her 26:27, 15th place finish. Rio Crismore’s 30:21 time netted her the 16th finisher’s slot. “Zoe ran a super last mile. She made up about 100 meters on a Whitefish girl and almost got her at the finish line” according to Banovich. “And, Rio continues to show great leadership qualities with her grit and determination.”

Not to be outdone by the “big kids”, the Middle School girls placed all three athletes in the top 10 in their 1.5 mile race. Andrea Wood was a close third with her 11:40 time. At 13:04, Carley VonHeeder finished 5th in her 1st race of the season. And Lily Huenink finished 10th with a time of 17:33. Coach Gena Ferlan was really happy with how the girls performed on a hot day. “I felt that all three girls improved relative to last week; and, we’re looking forward to a bit bigger of a meet next weekend” said Ferlan.

Speaking of next weekend, the Plains squad will be travelling to the Farragut Invitational outside of Sandpoint on Saturday. Both coaches expect to have their full squads for the first time this year. Dusten Henning and Sera Boggess will join the Middle School squad. And, on the High School side, junior Jared Sine will have enough practices to participate in his first race. “We’re really looking forward to having a full, scoring boy’s team” said Banovich. “Being part of the team competition adds a whole new dimension to the race; and, we should be reasonably competitive.”