at Priest River and Moscow
BFHS Cross Country Head Coach
As the Badgers near the end of their 2014 cross country season, momentum will be key to have a chance at making state. Last weekend they gained some serious momentum with strong performances at Priest River on Thursday and Moscow on Saturday.
On a perfect evening at Priest River Lamanna High School, the Badgers had their best races of the season. In the boys race (JV and Varsity ran together) Jacob Perkins posted his best time of the season (17:15) and his first ever first place finish. The Bonners Ferry boys had 7 of the top 10 spots in the race, all coming in under 20 minutes. Every runner on the boys team either posted a season best or personal best on Thursday. As a reward for their great efforts, the boys also took home a first place team trophy.
The girls had equally excellent performances. Sophomore Nicole Donn ran a very smart race, making her move at a difficult section of the course before the first mile. She never looked back, came in first place, and posted her best time so far: 22:26. Coming in third place was junior Victoria Smith. Victoria has been a solid runner all season, keeping steady paces and holding on to post another personal best 25:03, edging out 4th place by 1 second. Amanda Bauer raced hard after a difficult start to claim 10th place.
Boys Priest River
1. Jacob Perkins 17:15**
5. Tucker Cavender 18:57*
6. Alva Swanson 19:02*
7. Nolan Stidham 19:26**
9. Eric Ellis 19:35*
10. Jack Wade 19:39*
18. Neil Martin 20:37*
21. Dawson Thomas 21:11*
28. Will Colson 22:05*
36. Nick Magdaleno 23:27*
37. Andrew McCoy 23:27*
40. Alex Urbaniak 24:06**
Girls Priest River
1. Nicole Donn 22:26*
3. Victoria Smith 25:03*
10. Amanda Bauer 27:52
12. Hannah Lysne 28:36
*Personal Best
** Season Best
(Story continues below photo)
Just two days later the Badgers boarded a 4:30 a.m. bus to travel to Phillips Farm north of Moscow. The course was by far the most difficult the cross country team had faced this season. The course featured the infamous “Flatline Hill,” which climbs steadily up for nearly 500 meters. Other prominent hills made this course a challenge for the Badgers. In spite of short rest, a difficult course, and large opponents that were able to sleep in, the teams performed well.
Freshman Dawson Thomas ran hard, staying with the front pack for most of the
race and
finishing in 22:02 for a third place finish.In the girls varsity race, Nicole Donn faced tough Lewiston, Moscow, and Deary competition near the front. Using the power of the pack, Moscow squeezed out Donn initially, but she held on to finish 13th with a 24:39. Victoria Smith was not far behind, finishing in 25:32, looking very consistent the entire race. Hannah Lysne also ran her best mental race of the season. She made key moves on features and positioned herself into a 26th place finish. When asked why she did so well she responded, “I just like hills. Everybody else hates them, but for some reason I do really well on hilly courses.”
Once again for the boys, Jacob Perkins was Bonners Ferry’s top finisher with a 5th place 18:18 cruise. Behind him was Tucker Cavender at 20:03, who dropped over 1.5 minutes from his time last year. Alva Swanson and Nolan Stidham also worked together after challenging Flatline Hill, running at 20:44 and 20:49 respectively. [It was later learned that Alva finished the last half of the course running on a broken foot. He still stuck it out and finished the course!] The Badger boys’ performance as a team was good enough to come in 4th overall behind Moscow, Lewiston, and a surprise Potlach team.
The final regular season cross country meet for 2014 will be Saturday, October 11, at Riley Creek campground in Laclede. Races will begin at approximately 9:00 a.m. Districts will follow on October 23 at Timberlake High School.
Boys JV Moscow
3. Dawson Thomas 22:02
12. Will Colson 23:48
13. Nick Magdaleno 24:01
16. Andrew McCoy 24:42
22. Alex Urbaniak 26:28
Girls Varsity Moscow
13. Nicole Donn 24:39
17. Victoria Smith 25:32
26. Hannah Lysne 27:44
31. Amanda Bauer 29:04
Boys Varsity Moscow
5. Jacob Perkins 18:18
16. Tucker Cavender 20:03
23. Alva Swanson 20:44
24. Nolan Stidham 20:49
27. Jack Wade 21:15
29. Eric Ellis 21:16
33. Neil Martin 21:35
