T-Falls harriers open season at Ronan

It was a great day for a run, with the Mission Mountains close enough to reach out and touch.

And it was really great Corvallis’ boys and girls cross country teams as they swept both divisions of the Ronan Canal Bank run Saturday in the rural woods east of Ronan. 

And it was a good day for the Thompson Falls harriers, who were competing like everyone else in their first race of the 2024 high school season. 

Thompson Falls, paced by the top 20 finish racked up by freshman runner Weston Block, finished seventh in the team standings among the 11 schools who entered the event. 

The Lady Hawks, T Falls’ girls' team, was also led by a youngster, as sophomore Aubrey Baxter crossed the finish line at the end of the 3.1 mile run in 13th place. 

Block recorded a time of 19:31.3, averaging 6:18 per mile over the course, which parallels an irrigation canal that traverses a wooded area near the base of the scenic mountain range. 

Drummond’s Dawson Parke, a sophomore, won the race with a time of 17:22.4, just ahead of Ronan’s Jacob Piapot.  Third place went to Corvallis runner Marrek Jessop, who recorded a time of 17:43.1 and was one of four Corvallis runners in the top ten. 

Junior Blake Shusterman finished 32nd for the Blue Hawks with a time of 20:52.7, while sophomore Tuff Ryder finished 40th, crossing the finish line at the 22:20. Mark.  T Falls eighth grader Nathan Baxter was 44th, and junioer teammate Luke Pastorius finished 46th. 

In the girls’ competition, Corvallis had a top team score of 29 as the powerful Lady Blue Devils team placed five runners in the top 10, including second place Violet Jessup (20:24.4) and junior teammate Elia Varner was third (21:38.0). 

Hamilton sophomore Aleigha Child was the girls’ individual winner, placing first with a time of 19:53.2. 

For Thompson Falls, which did not have enough qualifying runners to compete for the team title, Baxter crossed the finish line with a time of 23:40.8.   

Two other young Lady Hawks harriers placed 20th (freshman Lexi Franck, 24:45.6), and 21st, (sophomore Evalyn Edwards, 24:50.9). Senior Peighton Kenney placed 32nd with a time of 26:16.9). 

Clear blue skies were the rule of the day for the runners along the mostly level maintenance road that follows the canal as it winds through the woods. 

Next up for T Falls is the Flathead Invitational meet this Friday (September 6) in Kalispell. 

    Lady Hawks sophomore Aubrey Baxter leads a group of runners in the initial stage of the Ronan Canal Bank run this past Friday outside of Ronan. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)