Cross country teams compete at Ronan Invitational

RONAN - Both Plains High School and Thompson Falls Cross Country teams participated at the Ronan Invitational this past Friday, September 13. Two runners from Hot Springs also competed in the tournament that was held at the Mission Mountain Country Club golf course.

Weather was once again a factor with temperatures in the mid 80s with humid conditions for runners. In addition to the hot, muggy weather, there were numerous soggy, soft areas in the first two miles. For the second week in a row, it meant some challenging conditions for both teams.

The best finish of the day for Plains belonged to junior Russell Kujala. He ran a new personal best of 17:13 to place third in the boys race.

“(Kujala) raced well, moving up in the field throughout the first two miles. He closed exceptionally well in the last 800 meters, passing and holding off two runners from Whitefish High School,” said Plains Head Coach Tony Banovich.

According to Coach Banovich, Aaron Garrison ran well for the second week in a row, and was a clear number two runner for the Horsemen, while Alan Ihms continued to impress as well - setting a new personal best by 75 seconds (finish time of 21:02) and moved up to the number three finisher on the team.

Daniel Damschen fought the heat and humidity but still ran a solid 22:26.

Caleb Connolly also set a new personal best, his 25:05 improved on his previous best by over 90 seconds.

“As a group, the boys ran quite well. Having three personal bests out of five runners was very impressive given the conditions. Russell is establishing himself as a top performer in the Class B ranks and his hard work is definitely paying off,” said Banovich. “Aaron has really stepped up his game from last year; and, Alan continues to impress. Daniel and Caleb are both expected to drop time when the weather cools.”

For the Plains girls, Demi Horton led the team. Although Horton struggled a bit with the conditions, she still earned a top 10 finish.

According to Coach Banovich, Felicia and Kimberly Earhart both competed well at the meet. Earhart helped pace along teammate Shannon Dimond. Earhart finished in 23:21 with Dimond coming in at 23:24.

Kimberly Earhart paced Jade LaDeaux through the first two miles of her first cross country meet. Earhart ran a workout paced last mile, finishing in 24:21 while Jade finished with a solid 25:31.

“There were some good things on the girls side today. Even on an ‘off’ day, Demi still performed well and finished near the top of the field. Felicia and Kimmy both showed some great leadership by working with their teammates and keep something in reserve to also help their Volleyball team,” said Banovich. “Shannon and Jade both performed well; and, I have big expectations for them once the weather turns cooler.”

Natalie Deschamps had to run through the hottest part of the day in the girls middle school event. Deschamps ran a solid two-mile race finishing in 16:27.

As for Thompson Falls, the girls team did not compete but according to Head Coach Sarah Naegeli the boys had a great day. The high school boys finished in third place while the junior high boys took second place overall.

“Josh Wulfekuhle had an outstanding day. Aicia (Curran) and Lindsey (Owens) both ran PR’s for their races. We had three junior high runners finish in the top ten: Parker (McConnell), Colby (Lantz) and Hope (Slater),” said Coach Naegeli.

Wulfekuhle came in second for the team with a time of 18:44 while Logan Naegeli lead the Bluehawks with 18:23. Kyle Kennic took third place for the team and 20th overall with a time of 19:07.

Curran and Owens got 32nd and 51st place respectively with times of 24:15 and 26:00 - both personal bests for the ladies.

McConnell lead the Thompson Falls junior high boys with a time of 13:52, followed by Lantz with 13:54 and Ethan Brown with 14:51.

Coach Naegeli said the Polson Invitational should be interesting, adding a few natural and man made obstacles to the course.

“It’s not your typical course,” said Coach Naegeli. “If we’re lucky maybe it will cool down a bit too. We’re getting acclimated to the heat, but it’s still hard on the runners.”

Coach Naegeli said all five girls will be competing at Polson for the first time as a team - something everyone is excited to see.