It was, to say the least, a good meet for Sanders County high school cross country runners.

And for a bunch of them, it’s on to the Montana State B-C championships this Saturday in Kalispell.

Thompson Falls’ women's team placed five runners in the top 15 during the meet, which was held this past Thursday on the scenic Rivers Bend Golf Course west of T-Falls to win the team title with a low team score of 51 points. Anaconda’s Lady Copperheads were a distant second in the team standings.

Sanders County’s other cross country team, Plains, finished eighth out of 10 women’s teams, but had the top individual finisher, freshman Marina Tulloch, and placed all four of its runners in the top 15 but did not have enough entrants to qualify for the team championship.

Tulloch, who the week before led the Trotters to a team victory in at the Arlee Fish Hatchery run with a second place individual showing, opened up an early lead in the Divisional finals and cruised to victory more than 50 seconds ahead of second place freshman Aubrey Baxter who was part of the West Division winning Thompson Falls women’s team.

Plains and Thompson Falls men’s team runners also advanced solid groups to the upcoming State B-C finals, led by Plains eighth-grader John Owen Jermyn, who placed eighth. Senior Cael Thilmony crossed the finish line eleventh to pace the Blue Hawks contingent.

The Plains men’s team finished seventh in the team title chase, which was won by Florence-Carlton with a low team score of 70 points, just ahead of second place Loyola Sacred-Heart (Missoula). The Horsemen had 153 points, while Thompson Falls was listed as ninth place, with 178 team points.

Tulloch set a blistering pace in the women’s competition and by the midway point of the 5K (3.1mile) course had opened a substantial lead. She covered the course in 20:02.4, while Baxter finished with a time of 20:55.0

The individual men’s champion was Drummond senior Scott Park, who completed the 5K course in 16:20.9. Second place went to Florence-Carlton’s Kyler Harris, who crossed the finish line with a time of 16:33.1.

To qualify for the State finals, men’s runners had to have a time of 25 minutes or better, while the qualifying standard for women was 30 minutes.

In addition to Baxter’s second place finish, the Lady Hawks got a fifth place showing from senior Faith Palmer, who had a time of 21:34.2. Other Lady Hawks were: Lexi Franck, who was ninth overall with a time of 22:44.9; junior Peighton Kenney (13th, 24:03.3; Kylee Huff, another of the T Falls freshmen (26:11.6); Adelynn Traver (28:18.6); and Jaden Bewick (29:17.7)

For the Trotters, eighth-grader Annika Ercanbrack was eighth overall with a time of 22:27.9; freshman Ashley Ferlan was eleventh overall (23:03.7) and senior Peyton Wasson finished thirteenth, crossing the finish line at 23:41.5.

The week before in Arlee, the Trotters had four runners in the top 10, while Wasson was 11th.

In the men’s competition, Plains senior Joe Martin finished 18th overall with a time of 18:42.0. Other Horsemen who competed were: sophomore Kalen Ercanbrack (19:35.9; senior Drew Carey (19:42.3) and sophomore Asher Seymour (23:03.7).

At the Arlee Fish Hatchery run the week before, Jermyn placed second, while Martin was fourth overall.

The Thompson Falls men, in addition to Thilmony’s strong showing, got a 34th overall performance from freshman Tuff Ryder (19:54.1); 36th place from eighth grader Weston Block (19:58.7); and 44th place by sophomore Blake Shusterman. Other Blue Hawks who crossed the finish line included: Evan Lothus (21:38.2); Sean Nowlan (22:57.1); and, Jacob Molina (24:52.1)

The men’s race at the State final begins at 1:15 pm this Saturday, followed by the women’s final at 2 pm. The race will be held at Rebecca Farms.