Cross country teams compete in prestigious tourney

MISSOULA – The Plains and Thompson Falls cross country teams both had exceptional performances at the Mountain West Classic meet in Missoula on Saturday. Over 1,800 athletes from as far away as Washington state gathered at the University of Montana Golf Course to run a course that will also be the setting for the state championship meet at the end of October.

According to Plains Head Coach Tony Banovich, the weather was highly conducive to stellar outings for athletes competing at one of the largest high school cross country events in the country. All of the AA teams from Montana, most of the A teams and about half of the B and C schools were in attendance for what is considered to be one of the most prestigious meets in the state.

Russell Kujala led the boys team with a personal best time of 16:26. That mark was a 47 second improvement on his previous personal best time. Kujala placed 62nd out of 421 competitors in the boys varsity race. The performance represented a marked improvement from last year when Kujala ran a time 17:56 and finished 219th.

Demi Horton led the girls team once again placing 110th out of 375 competitors with her season best time of 20:13. Her time was also 4th best among class B runners. Shannon Dimond also had a personal best time running a 22:27 for the girls team.

The boys team had a long string of personal best times with Alan Ihms, Brenen Abromeit, Caleb Connolly, Aaron Garrison and Daniel Damschen running their fastest races thus far.

Head Coach Banovich said he was very pleased with the performance from both teams. Banovich indicated that the team is starting to incorporate some strategy into their overall performances.

“All the kids ran very well. In this big of a race you have to run smart and not let your emotions get the best of you. All of the Plains teams did just that. They all ran solid, steady races,” said Banovich. “I was especially pleased with how well they all ran their last mile. It shows their endurance is coming along just right when they can run a strong last mile.”

For Thompson Falls, several athletes scored personal best and season best times during the meet. For the boys team, Logan Naegeli ran a season best 17:11 while Daniel Kanak, Flo Baass and Will VanHuss all had personal best times.

The girls team was led by Aicia Curran with a time of 24:24 and Abby Croft who posted a season best time of 24:59. Lindsey Owens and Nikki Burwig both posted personal best times.

According to Head Coach Sarah Naegeli the team gained valuable experience on a course that some athletes may return to later on in the season.

“We had some great times at this meet,” said Naegeli. “It was good to compete in a huge race like this, on a course to prepare us for the state meet. All five of our girls ran so we had a scoring girls team for the first time this season.”

The team from Plains will next compete at the event hosted by the team from Thompson Falls on October 3.