There are big cross country meets, and there is the Mountain West event each year in Missoula.

It was not too big for Plains sophomore standout Marina Tulloch, who placed fourth in a field with 403 girls from large schools throughout the Northwest.  The boys’ varsity field had 499 finishers.  And those totals do not include similar numbers of junior varsity and middle school teams. 

Dozens of teams from Spokane, Idaho and elsewhere in the region sent often large contingents of runners to the event, but Tulloch continued her strong showing this season. 

Tulloch toured the 3.1-mile course in 18:45.2, an average pace of 6:03 a mile.    Girls’ varsity winner, sophomore Lauren Bissen of Glacier High in Kalispell, won the race with a time of 18:22.6. 

The girls’ team title went to Bozeman with a low score of 96 team points.  Tulloch’s lofty finish helped Plains finish 27th in the team chase. 

Helena High won the girls’ team title with 99 points. 

Other race competitors for Plains girls were Savanah Costner (146th) 22:25.1; Ireland Corbin (208), 23:32.4; Tia Bellinger (216), 23:40.2; and Annika Ercanbrack (221), 23:50.6. 

The Plains boys’ varsity team, which also placed 27th, was led by freshman Owen John Jermyn, who placed 69th in the individual competition with a time of 17:11.3.  Other Plains varsity competitors included: Simeon Costner, (82), 17:18.3; Cord Greer (163), 18:15.9; Mike Reistroffer (235), 18:51.1; Kalem Ercanbrack (240) 18:53.4; Jack Cockrell (300), 19:47.9; and Brock Ryan (365), 21:06.8. 

Thompson Falls, whose boys and girls participated mostly in the Junior Varsity fields, had one varsity runner, Blake Schusterman, who finished with a time of 20:30.1. 

The T Falls girls, who placed fifth in the junior varsity team chase, were led by Audrey Fairbank, who finished 17th with a time of 22:13.5.  Other T Falls girls who ran in the junior varsity competition were Aubrey Baxter (19), 22:15.5; Lexi Franck (29), 22:56.9; Evalyn Edwards (63), 24:03.8; Peighton Kenney (86) 24:43.1; and Madline Zyromski (145), 27:04.2. 

The T Falls boys also took part in the junior varsity competition, finishing 22 as a team, led by Weston Block, who placed 74th with a time of 19:42.8.  Other Blue Hawks who took part included: Nathan Baxter (123), 20:46.1; Tuff Ryder (136), 20:59.9; Luke Pastorius (165), 21:43.0; and, Jakob Molina (201), 23.26.6. 

T Falls cross country coach Sarah Naegeli was happy with the continued progress she has seen among her runners. 

“We’ve had a fantastic last couple of weeks for our runners,” Naegeli said. “They’ve hit their fastest times these last two races, and we’re looking forward to continued improvement”. 

Naegeli said the Mountain West course, held at the University of Montana golf course, was basically flat terrain. 

“This was a very flat course, lots of grass with one hill during mile two,” she said. “It was another wonderful, cooler Fall day”. 

Next up for local runners is the Hatchery Run this Tuesday (Oct 1) in Arlee. 

    Thompson Falls freshman Weston Block runs in the Mountain West cross country meet this past weekend in Missoula. (Photo by Sarah Naegeli)