RUNNING THE RIVER

Sanders County athletes were among the more than 450 runners to compete at the Thompson Falls Invitational cross country meet last week. Blue skies made for a pleasant competition along the Clark Fork River at River's Bend Golf Course.

Thursday's meet was the first competition for the Plains cross country team. Sophomore Peyton Wasson competed in the girls' race, finishing in 29 minutes, 5.97 seconds, and classmate Brenden Vanderwall finished the boys' race in 23:09.62.

Thompson Falls Coach Sarah Naegeli said it was a perfect fall day for the race. "River's Bend Golf Course is a favorite for many of the teams."

The Columbia Falls girls came away with the top spot as a team and individually, with junior Siri Erickson (20:29.62) and senior Hannah Sempf (20:46.32) earning the first and second place medals. Hamilton was second among the girls teams, followed by Whitefish, Powell County and Arlee. For the boys, Hamilton placed first with seniors Lane Cole, Colter Kirkland and Colter Purcell crossing the finish line in under 18 minutes for the first three individual places. The Blue Hawk boys finished eighth as a team.

Three Blue Hawks set personal records at their home meet, including Mollie Nichols (24:57), Cael Thilmony (19:19) and Alessi Rolando (21:22). Sophomore Hattie Neesvig led the charge for the Hawk girls, finishing in 22:14, followed by Faith Palmer (23:30) and Roni Hanks (29:05). Will Hyatt led the boys in 18:03, with Levi Myers (20:16), JT Taylor (21:58), Jack Williams (22:19) and Ben Croft (23:47) also competing. The Hawk boys also had a junior varsity team competing at River's Bend, including Christian Murdock (23:47), Will Hawkins (23:52), Briar Palmer (24:44), Ethan Geisbusch (25:25) and Alek Sweeden (30:29).

"Hattie and Will have been running strong all season and did not disappoint at our home meet," Naegeli said.

Junior high athletes from Dixon, Trout Creek and Hot Springs also competed at Thompson Falls. Joshua White, a Hot Springs seventh grader, ran the course in 14 minutes, 41.72 seconds. The Dixon Tigers were represented by eighth graders Raymond McDonald (14:44.53) and Tyler Boye (19:34.32), seventh graders Dylann Elverud (15:33.72) and Jordan Boy (17:58.94), Lucy Metcalf (28:16.20) from the sixth grade and fifth graders Tianna Ross (16:45.97), Sheray Rossbach (19:55.93), Sonny Matt (19:41.86) and Dazzy Howard (23:33.58).

The Trout Creek Eagles also soared through the course last week, with seventh grader Tuff Ryler finishing in 16 minutes, 35.26 seconds, and sixth graders Eithan Chamber (15:02.87) and Noah Hill (15:46.94) also competing for the boys. Ellie Chambers, a fifth grader, competed for Trout Creek in the girls' race, finishing in 26:14.47.