In the still of the early Montana morning, in the cool fresh air. Feet gliding across the forgiving sod ground with beautiful, forested mountains and the majestic Clark Fork River slowly winding by serving as your backdrop.

If you are a cross-country runner in training, it doesn’t get any better than this, practicing your running skills on the scenic grounds of the River’s Bend golf course, early in the morning, before the rest of the world wakes up and more importantly, heats up.

Coach Sarah Naegeli and her Blue Hawk cross country runners have been busy getting ready for the upcoming high school by beating the heat, taking advantage of the opportunity to run and train in the early morning at River’s Bend, long before any golfers shake off the cobwebs and hit the course themselves.

Naegeli said that she and the Hawks have been getting up at 5:30 a.m. in order to get to the Bend in time for their 6 a.m. training runs, but that the extra effort is worth it.

“I am kind of surprised we haven’t seen some golfers out early, it has been awfully hot lately,” Naegeli said of her team’s early morning excursions on the Bend. “But we are so thankful that the folks out there allow us to do it.

“The kids love it and we have a great place to work out,” she added.

Not to mention the fact that two of the season’s biggest races – the Thompson Falls Invitational Sept. 25 and the Western B-C divisional meet Oct. 15 – will also be run at the Bend later this fall, providing the Hawks valuable practice there.

Blue Hawk harriers will open the season competing in the Plains Invitational south of Plains Saturday with race time set at 9 a.m.

Junior Weston Block, who earned All-State B honors last year with a top 15 finish at the State B meet, and road-tested sophomore Nathan Baxter return to lead the Hawk boys.

Dual sport athletes Aubrey Baxter, a senior, and Audrey Fairbank, a sophomore, will lead the Hawk girls. Baxter and Fairbank are also both varsity players on the Thompson Falls volleyball team, and likely appreciate the very early XC practice.

Seniors Zachary Botz and Caleb McCray, junior Carter Robinson and freshman Wyatt Clawson round out the Hawk boys’ roster, and junior Kylee Helmuth completes the current girls’ lineup for Thompson Falls cross country.