The Thompson Falls girls and Plains' outstanding sophomore runner continued to represent Sanders County well at the recent Mission Shadows Duels cross country meet at Silver Fox Golf Course in Pablo. 

The Lady Hawks placed five runners in the top 30 in the girls’ competition over the 5,000-meter course, led by eighth grader Aubrey Fairbank’s 11th place showing out of 56 harriers who finished the race. 

First place in the girls’ competition went to Plains sophomore Marina Tulloch, who continued her string of top five finishes with yet another first-place medal. 

In the boys’ competition, Plains placed fourth in the team chase and Thompson Falls was tenth.  Leading the way for the Horsemen runners was freshman Owen John Jermyn who crossed the finish line fifth with a time of 16:53. 

T Falls freshman Weston Block led the Blue Hawks boys with a 23rd place showing among the 80 male competitors. 

Tulloch’s first place finish did not equal a Plains team win as the Trotters did not have enough finishers to qualify for the team title. 

Browning won both the boys and girls races, with Peyton Eaglefeathers leading the way with a fifth place finish.  Tulloch won the race with a time of 18:33, while Polson’s Morgan Delaney came in second. 

In the boys’ individual competition, Polson’s David DiGiallonardo was first with a time of 16:12. 

Thompson Falls head coach Sarah Naegeli said the course was tricky in spots, particularly “Pirate Curve” where several runners slipped and fell, but all were able to get back up quickly and continue the run. 

“It is mostly a grassy course,” she said. “It was a beautiful Fall day, but the course was wet and soggy.  There were several hay bales to jump”. 

No T Falls runners fell, Naegeli said. 

Among the interesting twists at the event was the staggered reverse order where a team’s seventh runner gets a 20-second lead on the next group, followed by the sixth-place runners 20 seconds after that and so on up to the number one runners. 

“This is a great time to mix things up,” she said. “Runners get used to who they should be racing near, and this changes that way of thinking”. 

The T Falls girls were led by Fairbank, who finished with a time of 21:59.  Also placing for the Lady Hawks were Lexi Franck, 22:51, a season best; Aubrey Baxter, 23:03; Peighton Kenney, 23:38 and Evy Edwards, 24:00. 

In addition to Block’s team best finish with a time of 18:51, a new personal best, other Blue Hawks who placed were Blake Shusterman, 20:25, a season best; Nathan Baxter, 20:52; Luke Pastorius 21: 25, a new personal best, and Jakob Molin, 23:11, a new season best time. 

For the Plains boys, in addition to Jermyn’s fifth place finish, were Kalem Ercanbrack, 18:31; Cord Greer, 18:57; Mike Reistroffer, 19:04 and Brock Ryan, 20:09. 

Other Trotters who competed were Savanah Costner, who placed eighth with a time of 21:43, were Tia Bellinger, 22:42 and Ireland Corbin, 23:13. 

Next up for Plains and Thompson Falls cross country runners is the Western B/C Invite this Thursday (Oct 17) at River’s Bend Golf Course just west of Thompson Falls beginning at 10 am.  River’s Bend is Thompson Falls home course during the season. 

    Thompson Falls eighth grader Nathan Baxter jumps over a hay bale on the Silver Fox Golf Club course during this past weekend's Mission Shadows Invitational cross-country event. (Photo by Sarah Naegeli)