Harriers win titles at Thompson Falls race
Hungry Horse News | Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 10 months, 2 weeks AGO
Ashley Andrews and Findley Dezzani run in Thompson Falls.
The Columbia Falls Harriers swept the slate clean at the Thompson Falls Invitational Saturday. Both the boys varsity and JV teams, and the girls varsity team won the meet. Athletes agree this is one of their favorite courses throughout the standard cross country season, as the race starts and ends along a beautiful stretch of the Clark Fork River.
“We’ve had some wellness issues on the team recently, and everyone did the best they could. The girls one through five were tight, and all the kids competed to the line,” said Coach Colleen Finberg.
The boys won with a score of 68 points. River Blazejewski took first for the boys, with a 17:15. Following him was Aiyers Powell with a 17:35, and Mason Colliander with a 17:53.
“Aiyers was in a group of three throughout most of his race, so to see him come out on top by .3 seconds was a big deal–it pays off in the postseason races,” Finberg said.
The girls won with a score of 49 points. Ashley Andrews took first for the Columbia Falls girls with a time of 21:12. Findley Dezzani took second with a 21:16, followed by Hazel Alexander with a 21:24. Senior Claire Bates also ran a 37 second season best with a time of 22:29, finishing fifth for the gals.
The boys JV won the meet with 19 points, only four points away from a perfect score in cross country, which is 15 points. This occurs when you get your 1-5 runners across the finish line before anyone else from another team crosses. One standout performance on the JV side was that of Everett Scoggins, who ran a 1:45 personal best with a smoking time of 21:11.
The Herd of Turtles will travel down to Hamilton this Saturday to compete at the historic Daly Mansion, once owned by Montana “Copper King” Marcus Daly. The course offers what little shade there is to be found in Hamilton.