Plains puts up solid times during Eureka Invitational

EUREKA - Temperatures were a bit warmer than expected according to Plains High School Cross-Country Head Coach Tony Banovich during the Eureka Invitational meet on Friday. Banovich said with highs into the low 80’s combined with 15 to 20 miles per hour winds during the afternoon, the weather made for some challenging race conditions.

In attendance were Plains, Thompson Falls, Eureka, Arlee and Fernie from Canada.

For the Plains boys, Russell Kujala ran 18:01 for second place (race winner was Logan Naegeli of Thompson Falls in 17:40). This was a 90-second improvement over his 2012 race.

Aaron Garrison was 11th in 20:43 (also a 90 second improvement over 2012).

Daniel Damschen ran 22:07 for 15th; and, Alan Ihms ran a personal best of 22:17 for 16th place.

The boys team was rounded out by Caleb Connolly in 26:48.

For the girls, Demi Horton secured her first ever cross country win. She had a hard-fought, neck and neck battle with Eureka’s Alex Bartmess over the full 3-miles. Then, over the last 200 meters Demi kicked in for the win - 20:57 to 21:05.

Felicia Earhart was third with a time of 21:41; and her sister Kimberly Earhart was fourth coming in at 21:50. Shannon Dimond rounded out the girls teams performances with her time of 25:38.

For the Middle School Girls, Natalie Deschamps ran 16:27 over the 1.5 mile course.

“I was very excited to see Demi get the win,” said Banovich. “She ran a very smart race and made her final move at just the right point. The girls team showed that they are quite strong.”

“Jade LaDeaux will have enough practices in before the next meet and, we’re excited to see how we do with all five girls running,” said Banovich.

Compared to this time last year, athletes are improving and in some cases exceeding the coaches’ expectations.

“Russell ran well. He was a bit “flat” from a big week of training but he raced well and made a big jump in performance compared to last year,” said Banovich. “Aaron Garrison also has shown some big improvement since last year and Alan Ihms is a pleasant surprise with how well he is performing in his first year of cross country.”

The Plains cross-country team will next compete at the Ronan Invitational on September 13.