BY KEENAN GRAY – “The Runner”
COUER D’ALENE, ID – The Sehome Mariners cross country teams made a trip over to the east side of the mountains for the Coeur d’Alene Invite held at Hayden Canyon in Hayden, Idaho. The Mariner boys collected another trophy placing 1st in the small school division (B-2A).
Led by seniors Reed Smith and Lucas Cunningham and junior Jacob Alexander, the Mariners swept the first 3 spots in the small school division with Smith placing 1st overall. Smith ran 16:42, while Alexander (2nd) and Cunningham (3rd) ran 16:59.
It was a course they were not quite used too since there was tons of dust, loose gravel, and dried grass, but Smith really enjoyed the experience of racing in a new environment and took on the challenge of a course that was very difficult.
“It was very difficult,” said Smith. “I was kind of surprised how hard the course was, but I think the whole team followed through our race plan. Didn’t go out to hard so I moved up throughout the race and put myself in good position at the end. It was definitely hardcore cross country.”
Sehome also had two other top 10 finishers in the small school division race with Roman Schroyer and Max Gargano placing 9th and 10th running 18:07 and 18:09.
The other top teams in the small school boys division were the Anacortes Seahawks placing 2nd, and Lakeside-Nine Mile placing 3rd. Patrick Wildman was the Seahawks top finisher placing 5th in 17:46. Gideon Swanson placed 4th in 17:13 and was Lakeside’s top finisher.
In the large school division race (3A-6A), Mead High School’s Caleb Lloyd battled the entire race with Gonzaga Prep’s Jonas Bears for the first place spot, but it was Lloyd at the end taking the win inching out Bears by a second. Lloyd ran 16:21 and Bears ran 16:22.
Lloyd mentions the respect he has for Gonzaga Prep’s Bears and loves every chance he gets to race against him.
“The race was great,” said Lloyd. “Jonas (Bears) is a great competitor, and even better person. I loved racing him as we always push each other. It is nice to have someone who can be on your tail for the entire race because it makes us both better runners.”
Lloyd and his Mead teammates also beat out Bears and his Gonzaga Prep team for the first place team trophy in the large school division as the Panthers scored 31 points, while the Bullpups scored 42. Finishing in 3rd as a team was The Dalles with 92 points.
On the girl’s side, Lakeside-Nine Mile won by one point over conference rival Deer Park in the small school girls division race. The score was 62-63 in favor of the Eagles. The Eagles had 4 girls in the top 20 with junior Madelyn Buckley finishing 6th running 20:30.1 leading her team.
Other runners from the Eagles in the top 20 were Emma Ames (20:41, 7th), Matise Mulch (21:30, 15th), and Makaylie Stockert (21:44, 16th).
Deer Park’s top finisher was sophomore Marion George placing 5th in 20:17.
Local Northwest Conference runner Saville Feist finished in 3rd place for the Anacortes Seahawks running 19:40. Feist has not run in an invite since her sophomore year of high school and she was super excited to be back racing competitively.
“It feels good to be back,” said Feist. “I am excited to be running on a team with a lot awesome girls that were supportive during the time I was not running. You’re just hoping all your teammates run well so you can place high as a team so that’s why I really like cross country.”
Another Northwest Conference runner from Sehome High School, Isabelle Douglas, placed 9th in 20:56 as the Mariners top runner.
Colville’s Alaina Stone was the winner of the small school race running 18:53 and beating last years small school champion, Riverside’s Lizzy Shaw.
Host Coeur d’Alene High School had a total of 6 runners on their varsity team, and all of them finished in the top 25 with sophomore Lauren “Lou” Forster placing 1st in the large school race running 18:41 for the fastest time of the day in the girls races. The team also finished 1st overall.
Forster said she had lots of fun running on the tough course and loved the challenge of pushing herself to put her in a good position to win the race.
“The hills were really great and I loved to push myself on those,” said Forster. “My plan was to take it hard on the first mile and then take recovery down the first hill. Then when it came to running in the forest, mentally I wanted to keep it together strong and know that I have the strength to push through that part of the race.”
Gonzaga Prep finished 2nd as a team with 58 points and The Dalles finished 3rd with 92 points. The Bullpups were lead by Leah Carney’s 5th place finish in a time of 20:29. Emma Mullins from The Dalles finished in 6th running 20:36.
For more results, visit: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=144474&show=all
For full interview and upcoming photos, visit: https://www.facebook.com/pg/therunnerwa/posts/?ref=page_internal
