Cross country teams heat up

RONAN – The Plains and Thompson Falls cross county teams competed in Ronan last weekend as the fall season picks up steam.

The race was held at the Mission Mountain Golf Course in Ronan on Thursday, Sept. 11, with runners leaving the starting line at 1 p.m.

During the meet, the Thompson Falls boys took sixth out of the 16 teams competing.

The girls of Thompson Falls and both teams from Plains competed as individuals during the race.

The girl’s teams raced first and Demi Horton lead the way for the Plains Trotters finishing in tenth place with at time of 20:13.

In total there were 96 girls competing in the opening race of the Ronan Invitational.

“The girls had a good solid day. Demi (Horton) ran really well today,” Plains Head Coach Tony Banovich said. “After fighting some early season knee issues, she’s improving every day. Today’s race showed that she’s right back into the upper echelon of the Class B ranks.”

For the Thompson Falls Lady Bluehawks, Aicia Curran led the way and took thirty-fifth place with a time of 23:14.

According to Thompson Falls Head Coach Sarah Naegali, she has seen a lot of improvement from the team and both the boys and girls are racing smarter.

“Aicia ran her first race of the season and did quite well,” Naegeli said.

During the boys race, Russell Kujala led the Plains Horsemen taking second place on the day.

Kujala just missed out on the first place spot with a performance of 16:18, the second fastest time he has ever posted during competition.

There was a field of 129 runners for the boy’s race during the Ronan meet.

The Bluehawks boys also were able to snag a top ten finish thanks to Tanner Laws.

Laws finished the race in eighth place with a finishing time of 16:43, a personal best for the Thompson Falls athlete.

Xavier Broderick, Dan McDonald, Paul Adamo, Hayden Griffith and Kai Trebel also ran personal bests.

Freshman Colby Lantz of Thompson Falls competed in his first race of the season and his high school career at last week’s invitational.

Both teams’ strong performances are notable due to the strength of competition at the early season competition in Ronan.

“(We had) nicer performances overall from our high school members,” Naegeli said. “Lots of improvement and smarter racing.”

Banovich spoke highly of the athletes and teams who show up at the invitational every year.

“This is the best quality cross country meet in the inland northwest. I’m really excited to see how the kids perform,” Banovich said. “It’s a great identifier of where we stand and what we need to work on for the last half of the season.”

Both cross country teams will compete next weekend at the Mountain West Meet in Missoula.