Badger runners run at home for first time in years

September 6, 2016

The Badger boys started of in the middle of the pack Saturday in their only home meet of the season.

Badger cross country returned home for the first time in five years when Bonners Ferry High School hosted the home invite at the 3.1 mile Naples course on Saturday. A cool morning and rain the night before kept the sandy course packed down which aided runners in tackling difficult hills and turns. Freshman Abigail Gorton led the Badger girls' effort, finishing the tough course at 23:28 for a second place finish. “This is likely the most challenging course we will see this year,” assistant Catherine DelSalle said. “It is a nice bonus that this is our home course as well.” In cross country races only the first five runners score points for the team, while the sixth and seventh place runners are used as tie-breakers. Lowest total score wins. Turnout was small, featuring Kellogg and a team from Kootenai in the 2A division. The largest school present was Coeur d’Alene Charter, which is making the jump from 2A to the Intermountain League this year. The Panthers fielded a strong team that will look to challenge the IML for one of the three Idaho 3A State Championship bids. The day started with the boys’ JV race, where Bonners Ferry fielded two runners. Alex Urbaniak was the sixth overall runner across with a time of 24:34. Freshman Nathan Olsen came in 10th place with a time of 29:10. Only Charter had enough runners for scoring. The girls ran a combined race due to low numbers after the boys. “When we looked at numbers we decided it would be best to put the three JV runners in with the varsity. It can be intimidating to run a wide open course almost alone,” head coach Tyler Warner said. Freshman Abigail Gorton set the pace for the Lady Badgers, coming in second place with a time of 23:28, just 27 second behind Charter’s Tess McPhilomy. Next, in seventh place for Bonners Ferry, was junior Ada Bonnell, crossing the line at 26:17. Lauren Stidham, Liz Cowley and Rayan Naylor rounded out Bonners Ferry’s scoring five runners, coming in at 28:06, 28:21, and 28:48 respectively. Freshmen Serenity Fahey and Mia Hosterman also came in close together, finishing in 29:48 and 30:01. In team scoring the Lady Badgers finished second to Coeur d’Alene Charter. The boys’ varsity race finished off the morning of racing. Sophomore Sam Gorton would lead the Badgers with a sixth place finish behind a strong pack of Charter runners. Gorton finished in 19:27. Not far behind Gorton was senior Eric Ellis in seventh at 20:02. Dawson Thomas pushed through the hilly course with a time of 20:24 for eighth place. In ninth place was freshman Austin Donn at 20:27 leading a large middle pack. Ryne Rae was next for Bonners Ferry at 21:11 followed by Nick Magdaleno at 21:53. Rounding out the pack of Badgers was Will Colson at 25:58. Bonners Ferry also finished second to Charter’s dominating perfect score of 15. The Badgers will race at Farragut State Park this Saturday, September 10, at 9 a.m.