Local athletes run in Whitefish

WHITEFISH- Both the Plains and Thompson Falls cross country teams traveled north to compete in a meet held at Whitefish over the weekend.

The Whitefish Invitational, the final meet of both team’s regular season schedules, was held on Saturday, Oct. 11, with competition starting at 11 a.m.

In total 76 student athletes partook in the boys competition last Saturday and runners from both of the county’s teams performed quite well.

“Collectively, the boys had probably their best day of the year. They all ran at or very near their personal best times. That’s great to see as we approach Conference and State in the next two weeks,” Plains Head Coach Tony Banovich said.

Following up on his first place finish at the Thompson Falls Invitational on Oct. 2, senior Russell Kujala of Plains snagged another victory in Whitefish.

Kujala crossed the finish line first with a time of 16:18, his second fastest time ever.

Tanner Laws of Thompson Falls also had a big race, finishing right behind Kujala with a time of 16:32.

Luke Lile of Plains finished with a time of 19:52, a personal best for Lile.

The girls of the Plains Trotters team also had a successful day at the meet.

Demi Horton led the Trotters with a fifth place finish; the girl’s race consisted of 56 finishers.

Horton crossed the finish line with at time of 19:59.  

Danika Whitcomb of the Trotters ran for a personal best time of 23:45 in the weekend race.

“I’m really looking forward to Conference next week. It will be the first time all year that our full girls’ team has competed. I’m hoping for some good things for them as a team,” Banovich said.

With the regular season wrapped up for Thompson Falls and Plains both teams will begin postseason competition next weekend.

The two cross country squads will head to Ronan next weekend.

The Western B Conference Championships will be held on Friday, Oct. 17, with competition starting at noon.