Cross country teams run in Missoula

MISSOULA - The Plains and Thompson Falls cross country teams continued to build on their earlier season success with a strong performance in Missoula last week.

The teams both had a productive day last Thursday at the Missoula Coaches Invitational in an early season meet.

The girls raced first and the Trotters team ran well to open the day of competition.  The late afternoon meet was a bit warm with temperatures reaching the mid-70s.

Trotter Demi Horton led the way for the girl’s team and out of 84 total finishers at the meet, she placed 14th overall crossing the finish line with a time of 21:04.  

In addition, Trotters Shannon Dimond, Jade LaDeaux and Danika Whitcomb all ran exceptionally well. The girls all finished well and placed in the top half of the field. The three runners finished 23rd, 25th and 31st.  Dimond finished with a time of 23:27; LaDeaux crossed the finish line at 23:29 and Whitcomb ended her race at 24:09.

“(Dimond), (LaDeaux) and (Whitcomb) are well ahead of where our third, fourth and fifth girls were at this point in the season last year,” Plains Head Coach Tony Banovich said.  

Banovich was excited to see the runners on his team competing with poise this early in the year.

The coach was pleased with how things turned out in the early season meet and is looking forward to seeing the team’s progression during the season.

“Horton looked strong and ran solidly in the midst of a lot of AA girls.  I’m especially pleased with Whitcomb’s performance,” Banovich said. “This is her first cross country race ever and she looked fantastic the entire way.  She’s a fantastic addition to the team and I’m really excited to see how fast she can run by the end of the season.”

According to Banovich, Kimberly Earhart was pulling duty on the volleyball team in their away game and didn’t compete this week.

Lady Hawk Abby Croft finished in 57th place with a time of 26:46.

On the boys side of the meet Bluehawk Tanner Laws took seventh out of 84 boys with a time of 17:06.

“Tanner Laws ran an excellent race,” Sarah Naegeli, head coach of Thompson Falls said. “It was a bit warm, and not much shade on the course, but things went well. And this was the first time we’d raced at this course.”

Will VanHuss took 24th with a time of 18:38, while Dan McDonald finished third for Thompson Falls and 26th overall with 18:57.

“I’m very pleased overall with how all of our kids ran,” Naegeli said. “We have a lot of new runners on our team and already they’re figuring out how to compete well.”

Not only did the varsity team do well, but Naegeli said her junior high team ran a great day as well. Although they were in a shorter race, it was the first race to yield a large field of runners.

As for Plains, Horseman Russell Kujala kept up the pace and was right in the mix with the leaders of his race.  He ultimately finished in fifth place with a time of 17:01.  

“Like our girls, (Kujala) is quite a bit ahead of where he was this time last year.  It’s a testament to the mileage that he did this summer,” said Banovich.  

Banovich is excited to see the progression of the team’s boys. The coach is also excited to see what Kujala will be able to do in future races.

“He’s becoming comfortable racing in the lead pack and that will serve him well in some of our bigger meets and as we move towards the end of the year,” Kujala said.

“I’m really quite happy with how we did in this first significant meet of the season. The kids handled the warmer temperatures quite well and they weren’t intimidated by the AA Missoula schools,” Banovich said.

Both coaches are excited to see the future performances their teams will put up in upcoming weeks.

Both Plains and Thompson Falls will continue on to compete at Ronan on Thursday, Sept. 11.