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Badger Cross Country at Post Falls Invitational |
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September 8, 2015 |
The 2015 cross country season is officially
underway. After tolerating a week of heavy
smoke, the rain finally came through leaving
outstanding conditions for running at Kiwanis
Park in Post Falls on September 3. This year’s
Post Falls Invite drew schools from all over
Idaho, including all four Intermountain League
(IML) teams, and schools from as far away as
Lewiston and Moscow.
 The
first Bonners Ferry competitors to race on
Thursday were the boys JV team. The team
featured two freshmen, Sam Gorton and Jamin
Bontrager, who both ran in middle school, as
well as senior Louis Balcaen who returned to the
team this fall. Testing the course that featured
a variety of turns, hills, sand, packed dirt,
and some pavement, the JV runners found early
successes. Coming into the last 400 meters
Bontrager found himself in 14th place, but after
careful maneuvering finished 10th overall in his
first high school race. Bontrager finished with
a solid 20:59. Fellow Freshman Sam Gorton
crossed the finish at 22:23. Veteran Alex
Urbaniak, a junior, also showed toughness in a
final kick at the finish.
Next up were the varsity Lady Badgers, who
return only two members from last year’s team.
Senior captain Hannah Lysne and junior captain
Nicole Donn anchor a team that features
three-first time cross country participants.
Sophomore Jordan Young, a state competitor in
the 800m in track last spring, led the way with
a 23:15 in her first race. Young finished 13th
overall. Hannah Lysne would also build off a
strong track season, finishing in 24:34. Ada
Bonnell, who ran cross country in middle school,
would come in at 25:38. At the start of her
second season, Nicole Donn had to dig deep on
the second loop and ground out a 26:21 finish.
First year runner, freshman Lauren Stidham,
would find her pace to a 28:13 finish.
(Story continues below this photo)
The boys’ varsity team would be the last team to
toe the line. Senior captain Alva Swanson and
fellow senior Nolan Stidham would both post
solid times for the Badgers. After trailing
Timberlake’s entire varsity team at one point
The Badgers tracked down some of the Tigers and
moved back into competition. Stidham would be
the fastest Bonners Ferry runner with a 19:44,
with Swanson only three places behind at 19:53.
Dawson Thomas would come up less than 30 seconds
short of breaking the 20 minute barrier for the
first time this season, running a 20:26 for the
third place spot on the team. Junior Eric Ellis
was the fourth Badger in at 22:05. Smooth
running sophomore Nick Magdaleno would post a
22:43 while his classmate Ryne Rae would pace
himself to a 24:04 in his first-ever cross
country race. Senior Jack Wade had to gut out a
tough 26:04.
The final team scoring did not come out as the
teams would have hoped, but head coach Tyler
Warner saw a lot of positives in this first
meet. “This was just our first meet and our
sport isn’t won in September. Nobody ever gave
up,” he said, “and everyone knows we’ve got
until districts on October 22nd to get better.
They know what they did well and now we have an
idea of how we can build on that.”
The Badgers next race will be Saturday September
12 at 9:00 a.m. at Farragut State Park in the
State Course Preview. The Badgers will also race
there at districts on October 22 and state on
October 31.
Full Bonners
Ferry Results
Boys Varsity
29. Nolan Stidham 19:44
32. Alva Swanson 19:53
41. Dawson Thomas 20:26
55. Eric Ellis 22:05
63. Nick Magdaleno 22:43
70. Ryne Rae 24:04
73. Jack Wade 26:04
Girls Varsity
13. Jordan Young 23:15
27. Hannah Lysne 24:34
36. Ada Bonnell 25:38
42. Nicole Donn 26:21
49. Lauren Stidham 28:13
Boys Junior Varsity
10. Jamin Bontrager 20:59
27. Sam Gorton 22:23
42. Louis Balcaen 23:44
85. Alex Urbaniak 30:11 |
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