Harriers do well at Flathead Invitational
Hungry Horse News
The Columbia Falls girls took eighth and the boys took ninth at the Flathead Invitational cross country race last week at Rebecca Farm.
Top runner for the boys was River Blazejewski, who took 20th with a time of 16:44.91 while Mya Badger led the girls with a 19th place finish and a time of 20:56.88. She was fifth amongst class A competition as was Blazejewski.
“Hot. That’s the word for the meet. It was hot for all the races. The heat made the race conditions tough for everyone, regardless of the color of their jerseys,” coach Jim Peacock said.
He said both teams competed well on tired legs in a race that featured 672 finishers and attracted AA schools from across the state.
“We had a demanding week of practice, using this week in our training block as an important week of training at the expense of being fresh for a race. We put our race focus into developing some race strategies. Overall, I was really happy with individual performances, and the teams placed well against our Class A competition. We got our first look at the perennial powerhouse teams from the Bitterroot. They’re talented, and we seem to be matched up very closely,” Peacock said.
For the girls, Marissa Schaeffer had another strong race this week, and her experience and confidence are solid. She was 28th. Just over a minute back, our other five varsity runners finished in a cluster led by Cora Hannan. Choe Savoy paced her teammates Ashley Andrews and Claire Bates, and Chloe Williams kept that group in sight for a gutsy race of her own to finish ahead of roughly half of the entire varsity field.
Like the girls’ team, the entire varsity boys’ team finished in the top half of the field. Oliver Kress, Lucas Peterson, Griffin LaRoque, and Mason Colliander were our scoring five and finished 47th, 56th, 66th and 80th overall. Cash Short and Eric Miner were just behind with 81st and 89th place finishes.
“Saturday, we head to Corvallis. Right now, there are 16 teams entered, representing Classes A, B and C. With Hamilton and Corvallis there, it will be another very competitive field,” Peacock said.
Mya Badger crossing the finish line at the Kalispell cross country meet. Seth Anderson Photo.SETH ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY