competitive regional meet in Missoula
Starting the day off for Bonners Ferry was the boys JV team. Sam Gorton was the first Badger across the finish with a time of 21:13 followed closely by Ryne Rae with a 21:14. Samuel Smith finished with a 21:22. Although only separated by 8 seconds there were 11 places between Smith and Rae. Senior Louis Balcaen also came in under 22 minutes with a 21:43. In his first ever cross country race, junior TJ Smith posted a 22:03. “Pace was hard,” said TJ of his race, “I went out a little fast, but felt alright.” Alex Urbaniak came in for a season best 23:32, making seven minutes of improvement from his first race of the season. “You can really see the pieces coming together for Alex,” said head coach Tyler Warner.
In the 413 person boys’ varsity race, the winning time would be a blistering 15:07 by Brody Smith from Cody, Wyoming. The Badgers would hold their own, however, posting team scores that would best Priest River, Missoula Big Sky, and Billings Central, the latter two teams being in Montana’s highest school divisions. Alva Swanson would post the best time for the Badgers in Missoula, running a solid 18:37 followed by fellow senior Nolan Stidham at 18:39. Senior Jack Wade in his return to the varsity squad would post an 18:58. Sophomore Dawson Thomas would battle freshman Jamin Bontrager at the finish, coming in at 19:05 and 19:06 respectively. Early in the race Dawson fell and had a racing spike rake across his hand, but was able to recover and move back up. “I think if he hadn’t fallen Dawson would have broken that 19 minute barrier as well,” said coach Warner. “For Jamin to be running that well is also a great sign for his future with us. He could be really good as his career goes on.” Eric Ellis would post a 19:31 and Nick Magdaleno would round out the Badger runners with a 20:52.
The Lady Badgers varsity squad would finish a successful day for Bonners Ferry. Jordan Young would run a 21:18 for her fastest time in her first-ever cross country season. Senior Hannah Lysne would run a 22:57 and Sophomore Ada Bonnell would cross at 24:48. Lauren Stidham would finish in 25:30.
With a healthy dose of personal and season bests under their belts, the Badgers get a week off from racing to focus on training. “This should boost our confidence a lot,” said coach Warner. “We’ve got a week to work on more fine tuning for the second half of our season. This kind of trip helps us mentally and really helped our team building. I think they all grew closer together this week and they’re reaping the benefits of hard work lately.”
The Badgers will resume racing on October 1 at Priest River, and two days later will travel to Moscow.