Hawks finish 7th as state, Baxters earn All-State honors

The Blue Hawks put forth an outstanding performance at the state cross country meet Saturday in Missoula. It was a rainy, cold and damp day, but perfect weather for running and personal bests for the Hawks.

"The course was a bit slippery in spots, but well worth the cooler weather," Coach Sarah Naegeli said. The girls finished an impressive seventh as a team with sisters Ellie and Aubrey Baxter leading the pack. "It was certainly fun, nerve wracking and exciting to watch them compete. Not only did they run smart, strategic races, but both finished their season with a PR, Aubrey by 30 seconds and Ellie by 50 seconds!" said Naegeli. Out of a total of 150 runners in the Class B girls race, Ellie Baxter placed seventh with a time of 20 minutes, 12 seconds, while Aubrey placed ninth. Faith Palmer came in at 22:09 with a season best, Mollie Nichols 24:24 and Kylee Huff with a time of 25:06, also a personal best. The Baxter sisters both earned All-State honors by placing in the top 15, and Ellie now holds the school record with her time.

The boys also had an exceptional race. Out of a total of 182 boys in division B, Cael Thilmony came in 40th with a time of 18:31. "Cael didn't have the race he wanted. He was not feeling 100% this weekend and still managed to pull off a faster race than last time he ran on the course," said Naegeli. Brock Ryan came in 100th with a time of 20:11. Setting personal records were JT Taylor with 20:26, Simon Armstrong in 20:57, and Blake Shusterman and Wesley Powers with times of 21:33 and 22:17, respectively.

"Molly, JT, Ellie and Wesley all finished their Blue Hawk careers with this state meet. We appreciate their hard work this senior season. A fantastic finish for the season," said Naegeli.

The Plains team also competed at the Class B meet. All of the Plains girls set personal records. Peyton Wasson placed 88th with a time of 24:55, Kassidy O'Keefe crossed the finish line in 25:22 and Lillian MacDonald ran in 27:38. For the boys, Kalem Ercanbrack ran a 21:14 race.

Brothers Elijah and Wyatt Campbell of Hot Springs both came away with personal records competing in division C. Elijah came in 62nd with a time of 21:06 and Wyatt 82nd with a time of 22:04.