Hills and high-altitude, cross-country coaches love both for training their runners.

Providing those variables in sufficient quantities, the Browning Invitational was just the ticket for Thompson Falls harriers Friday.

“It’s great training for cross country running,” coach Sarah Naegeli said of the hills and ‘tude of where the race was run, and went on. "It was a cool, overcast and breezy day in Browning. Perfect temperatures for competing.”

Naegeli said she had a reduced roster of athletes on hand for Browning for a variety of reasons, but that the harriers she had did make strides in the meet, most notably sophomore Audrey Fairbank, competing for the first time this season.

“Our runners stepped up to compete, and worked on mental toughness,” she said. “Audrey had an outstanding first race of the season, putting herself up with the front runners at the beginning of the race.”

The Hawks had four top ten finishes in Browning, Naegeli said. Fairbank (20:57) ended up winning seventh place in the girls varsity 5K race and Caleb McCray (18:52) claimed tenth in the boys race to highlight the high school team’s efforts.

In the 1.5 mile middle school race, Neala Block continued her torrid season by winning the girls event in 10:08, and Cooper Lilly was not all that far behind, claiming fourth place in 11:17. “It was fun to watch Neala try to catch the 4 wheeler leading the race,” Naegeli noted.

Aubrey Baxter (23:32) placed 26th in the girls varsity race, and Nathan Baxter (30th in 20:25) and Wyatt Clawson (46th in 22:25) with the boys, rounded out the high school teams’ efforts.

Also competing for the junior high Hawks were Serenity Boddy (14:13) for the girls and Maxwell Hart (11:31) and Abram Cribb (11:33).

Naegeli said her team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West Invitational, perhaps the biggest high school cross country race of the season in Missoula Saturday.

“We will have our full teams again, thankfully,” she said. “Mountain West is always a fun, competitive, nerve wracking, exciting experience.”

    THOMPSON FALLS SIXTH GRADER Neala Block won first place in the middle school girls race at the Browning Invitational Saturday. (courtesy photo)