Hawks improving, home meet next

Sanders County cross country athletes got a look at some statewide competition last weekend at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula.

"This is a huge meet," said Thompson Falls Coach Sarah Naegeli, "where runners learn about defending their space, how to navigate in a large crowd at the start, and how to use the terrain on the course to their advantage." The race was held Saturday at the University of Montana golf course in Missoula and will be the same course used for the state meet next month. Naegeli said only two of the Blue Hawk runners had been on the course in their careers. "A few runners did get boxed in, but now know what to do to prevent that happening at the state meet," Naegeli added.

The Blue Hawk girls ran with the junior varsity competition at the Mountain West, with sophomore Hattie Neesvig leading the team in 22 minutes, 19 seconds. Mollie Nichols (26:00) and Roni Hanks (29:56) also ran for the Hawks. Will Hyatt led the varsity Hawk boys, finishing in 18 minutes, 9 seconds, with Cael Thilmony (19:44) and Levi Myers (20:22) also competing. Two junior varsity boys set personal records in Missoula, Christian Murdock (23:12) and Alek Sweeden (24:26). JT Taylor led the JV boys (21:22), followed by Alessi Rolando (21:58), Jack Williams (22:59), Will Hawkins (23:00) and Briar Palmer (25:10).

Ben Croft had a great week, Naegeli noted, setting personal records at both the Mission meet last Tuesday and the Mountain West Classic. Croft finished in 23:40 at Mission, then turned around and beat that time with a 22:58 finish in Missoula. "Ben is a leader on our team and has been a hard-working competitor for the last seven years," Naegeli said.

The Blue Hawk boys finished fourth as a team in Mission and every runner, not just Croft, set a personal record on the new three-lap course around the school in St. Ignatius and through town. Naegeli said it was a flatter, faster course and the weather was warm. Hyatt (17:40) led the Hawk boys and finished second individually, followed by Myers (19:40), Taylor (20:37), Rolando (21:48), Hawkins (22:58), Murdock (23:41) and Sweeden (24:27). For the girls, Neesvig (22:19) and Faith Palmer (23:30) both set personal records, finishing sixth and ninth, respectively. Hanks also ran well for the Hawks, finishing in 28:59.

Naegeli said she saw a lot of improvement in her team last week, and they were excited for their home meet, scheduled for Thursday at River's Bend Golf Course.

The junior high runners also competed in Mission and Missoula last week. Coach Sarah Stover said Mission was another impressive meet for her team, with the girls finishing fifth as a team and the boys running the best meet she's seen thus far in the season. Aubrey Baxter finished the two-mile course in 14 minutes, 44.43 seconds and finished in the top 10 for the girls individually, followed by Solveig Nygaard (15:13.33), Lexi Franck (16:27.63), Cora Anderson (16:28.64), Kylee Huff (15:18.85) and Brooke Flemmer (23:33.62). Brock Ryan (12:33.62) led the boys with a fourth-place finish, followed by Evan Lofthus (15:23.79) and Remmington Ryan (18:14.70).

At the Mountain West Classic, Stover said the team prepared mentally to run in the rain, but lucked out with perfect weather last Saturday. The girls placed eighth of 22 teams competing and the three Hawk boys were among the 360 runners in their 1.3-mile race. Brock Ryan finished in 8 minutes, 30 seconds, followed by Lofthus (10:20) and Remmington Ryan (12:15). For the girls, Baxter again led the Hawks (9:03), followed by Nygaard (9:48), Franck (10:07), Huff (10:08), Anderson and Flemmer (13:04).

While many Sanders County athletes were unable to compete in their respective sports last week, two Hot Springs runners also competed at the Mountain West Classic. Freshman Sasha Kifer finished the course in 34:48.99 and classmate Wyatt Campbell finished in 23:07.43.