Runners see state-like competition at Mountain West

The Plains and Thompson Falls cross country teams hit the road on Saturday for the Mountain West Classic, run on the University of Montana golf course in Missoula.

The Trotters and Horsemen continued to excel as they competed in the Mountain West Classic, which attracts schools from across the state and serves as a milestone in the season where runners can see where they stack up as the season progresses.

Plains sophomore Marina Tulloch continues to be a powerhouse competitor, taking fourth place in the women's varsity race last weekend with her kime of 18 minutes, 45 seconds, keeping her in the overall top five cross country runners in Montana. Plains eighth grader Simeon Costner ran his first high school race, finishingfinished at No. 86 among the 492 boys in the varsity race with a time of 17:18. Last week after winning the Thompson Falls meet, Costner said his goal was to be under 17 minutes this season in high school competition. John Owen Jermyn led the Plains boys in the varsity race in 17:11.

Cord Greer had a time of 18:15, and Mike Reistroffer crossed the finish line in 18:51. Kalem Ercanbrack had a time of 18:53, with Jack Cockrell almost a minute behind with his time of 19:47. Brock Ryan had a time of 21:06 for the Horsemen. Plains had two boys run JV, Asher Seymour (22:52) and Remington Ryan (23:14).

For the Plains girls, Savannah Costner had a great time of 22:25, with Ireland Corbin (23:32) and Tia Bellinger (23:40) and Annika Ercanbrack (23:50) rounding it out for the Trotters.

Thompson Falls ran most of their team as JV with only one varsity runner, Blake Shusterman, who had a stunning time of 20 minutes, 30 seconds. Weston Block had a time of 19:42 in the JV race, with teammate Nathan Baxter close behind with 20:46. Tuff Ryder had a great time of 20:59, with Luke Pastorius coming in behind with a time of 21:43. Jakob Molina crossed the finish line in 23:26 for the Hawks.

The JV girls took fifth place as a team with the help of Audrey Fairbank's time of 22:13, with teammate Aubrey Baxter crossing close behind with her time of 22:15. Lexi Franck continues to improve her time, coming in hot with her time of 22:56. Evalyn Edwards had a time of 24:03 with teammate Peighton Kenney coming in behind with 24:43. Madeline Zyromski had a time of 27:04.

"We've had a fantastic last couple weeks for our runners. They've hit their fastest times these last two races, and we're looking forward to continued improvement," said Thompson coach Sarah Naegeli.