The Lady Hawks were good last year, finishing seventh in the team chase at the Montana Class B cross country championships.

Gone is one of the best athletes and runners in the school’s history in graduated senior Ellie Baxter, who is set to enter Carroll College, Helena, on a basketball scholarship.

As is the case with other teams and athletes at Thompson Falls High, the cross country squad would be assumed to not be quite as good this year.

Quite likely they can be better. So too can Sanders County rival Plains as they continue to grow the program.

Time will tell, but the girls team and boys team appear to be on course for a really good year, even though those expectations are in light of results from the first major cross country meet of the 2023 season.

At the Grant-Kohrs Ranch Run in Deer Lodge Saturday, both teams represented T Falls well, raising expectations about the coming year for head coach Sarah Naegeli’s Lady Hawks team.

T-Falls finished second in the women’s varsity competition, a 5,000 meter run on the historic ranch, a tribute to cattle ranchers who dominated the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

With senior Faith Palmer, who for the past two years ran in the huge shadow of Baxter, leading the way, and Ellie’s freshman sister Aubrey Baxter close behind, the lady Hawks amassed 48 team points, good for second place in the season opening meet.

Palmer covered the course in 22:16.87, good for third place in the individual portion of the women’s meet, while Aubrey claimed fourth place with a time of 23:05.87.

Unfortunately runners from Beaverhead County finished first and second in the race, with Hailey Powell claiming top honors via a time of 20:12.50. Beaverhead finished first in the team chase with 24 points.

Sanders County’s other cross country team, Plains, did not have enough runners to qualify in the team competition.

Missoula-based Loyola Sacred Heart won the boys competition with a team total of 40 points, while Ronan finished second with 52. T Falls boys came in sixth with 136 points, led by the fifth place individual finish by senior Cael Thilmony who crossed the finish line at the 18:35.83 mark. Plains eighth-grader John Owen Jermyn was the highest finisher for the Horseman with a time of 19:40.31, good for thirteenth place. Sophomore Kaelm Ercnabrack was 22nd with a time of 21:30.52

Plains sophomore runner Savannah Costner finished eighth in the women’s event, while teammate Peyton Wasson, a senior, was sixteenth with a time of 26:52.72.

T-Falls also got a top finish in the women’s race from sophomore Peighton Kinney.

T-Falls coach Naegeli was pleased with the season-opening times.

“The goals for our first meet were pacing and power through the heat,” she said. “it was a great initial start, we settled into position and stayed mentally focused and strong for the race.”

Next up for the Lady Hawks is the Flathead Invitational September 8th at Rebecca Farms in Kalispell.

Plains is scheduled to compete in the Canal Run this Friday in Ronan.