Plains XC hosts opener

For the first time in nearly 10 years Plains High School hosted a cross country meet and the results were positive for the local athletes.

Eight Horsemen and six Trotters took part in the Plains Sanders County Fair Cross Country Meet, the school's first home cross country meet Friday against the Arlee Warriors and Scarlets. The 3.1-mile race course was held on the property of Joel and Wendy Collett about one mile into the woods off Combest Creek Road.

"I'm happy that we are able to put on a local meet. With the fair in town and 4-H, it's nice to have something close," said head coach Jesse Jermyn. He believes more teams will join them for the home race next year.

As the dust on the custom constructed trail settled, freshman Horseman Owen Jermyn was first to cross the finish line in 18 minutes and 30 seconds. "I'm proud of him and he ran a good race," said Jesse, Owen's father. "I'm proud of the entire team, they put in a lot of miles this summer," he said.

Second place across the finish line on the boys team was freshman Cord Greer in 18:54, followed in third place by senior Mike Reistroffer with a time of 19:24. For the girls, Trotter Marina Tulloch, a sophomore, finished first at 20 minutes and 37 seconds. In second place was Arlee Scarlet Anola Naugle at 21:46. Third place went to Trotter Savannah Costner, a home school junior, at 23:10.

"This is the first meet of the year, which for the coaches, is important for seeing where the kids are so we can set realistic goals for each of our athletes," said Jermyn, head coach for the last four years. Jermyn has eight boys on the team, including: senior Gavin Schrenk, junior Kalem Ercanbrack, junior Brock Ryan, junior Asher Semour, and sophomore Jack Cockrell. The Trotter runners include: sophomore Ireland Corbin, freshman Tia Bellinger, and freshman Annika Ercanbrack. They also have a foreign exchange student, but did not have her name.

The race route was carved out over the last two weeks by the coach, his son, Greer, Joel Collett, and Jermyn's brother, Cody. It included straight-aways, hills, curves, and two 10-15-foot long and 5-7-foot long foot wide foot bridges, constructed by Jermyn and Collett. The team started training at the end of June and ran the annual "11 Miles To Paradise" race on Aug. 16 from St. Regis to Quinn's Hot Springs Resort, said Jermyn, who competed in cross country before graduating from Plains High School in 2001.

The Plains Junior High cross country team also participated, but it was more of a fun run for them, said coach Gena Ferlan, who has eight runners on the team. "I wanted them to finish the two-mile run and know they can finish it," said Ferlan. The junior high team included: eighth-grader Kylie Silva, seventh-grader Emmy Russell, Simeon Costner, Talon Ferlan, and Brian Lakko, all eighth-graders, along with sixth-graders Colt and Trace Browning, and Ryker Anderson. Costner was the first junior high runner across the finish line.

The high school team will travel to Bozeman for a competition on Sept. 8, to the Corvallis Invite on Sept. 14, the Thompson Falls Invite on Sept. 21, and to the Arlee Hatchery Run on Oct. 1. The Thompson Falls Invite will be the junior high team's first competition.