A race to remember

Another season to remember.

The Thompson Falls cross country team completed a memorable season of running at the Montana All-Class meet at the University of Montana golf course in Missoula Saturday.

"For many of our runners, this was a first experience with a state competition," coach Sarah Naegeli said. "The hard work over the season, and the drive at this final race was a great end to our 2018 season. The 2019 season looks quite promising."

The Hawks' top finisher in each race will be returning for more next year. Sophomore Josey Neesvig led the Lady Hawks in and junior Justin Morgan paced the Hawk boys.

Neesvig finished 16th in the girls portion of the Class B race, timing out in 21:16.45 to miss an All-State B medal by one placing spot, as only the top 15 placers earn those honors. The Falls sophomore, who's times already rank among the best in Hawk running history, was battling a troublesome hip injury all season and still almost earned All-State recognition.

"Josey has been a dedicated leader for the team all season," Naegeli said, "and I can't wait to see her race next year!"

Morgan clocked out in 19:05.69 to win 54th place with the boys. "He's already planning his summer miles to help him for next season," Naegeli said.

Senior Rachel Ribeiro, who ran 1,329 miles while with the Hawk cross country program during her fine career, finished 54th among the girls with a time of 23:16.33. Ribeiro was a big part of the Falls cross country program for the past seven years.

''Rachel has meant a lot to this team over the last several years," Naegeli offered, "and she ran another solid race in Missoula."

Completing her first year of competitive cross country running in a rush, sophomore Megan Baxter took another 30 seconds off her previous best time in winning 98th place in 25:28.95.

Kacey VanZanten (28:24. 39), Roni Hanks (29:28.49) and Reagan Hanks (31:14.92) also ran in Missoula for the Thompson Falls girls.

Erik Melendez (20:12.05 for 87th place) and Nathan Burwig (20:41.24 for 108th) were second and third among the Hawk boys, and Wyatt Griffith (21:34.02), homecoming king Nick Viera (23:14.50) and Ben Croft (26:15.92) also competed in the State B meet.

Croft's time was a new personal best by over a minute. Naegeli said Burwig finished a six-year career with the Hawk harriers, and had 897 miles of practice running on his legs during those six years by the time the season ended.