Libby cross country sweeps Battle of the Kootenai

Libby cross country turned in a strong showing at the Battle of the Kootenai on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Indian Springs Montana Golf Course, with the Logger boys and girls both coming away with team victories over Eureka.

Senior Cody Watson highlighted the meet for Libby, winning the boys 5,000-meter race in a meet-record time of 17 minutes, 4.47 seconds. Watson bettered the previous mark of 17:08.50 and finished nearly two minutes ahead of the rest of the field.

Libby also claimed second place behind sophomore Cody Katzer, who crossed the line in 18:57.82.

Eureka junior Aidan Hartman finished third in 19:01.49 before Libby junior Jake Rusdal took fourth in 19:14.77.

The Loggers placed four runners inside the top seven. Eighth-grader Waylon Katzer finished seventh in 20:15.87, while senior Eaddon Baca rounded out Libby's five scoring runners with a 10th-place finish in 21:10.11.

That gave Libby a team victory over Eureka.

Junior Levi Nick followed Baca in 11th with a season-best 21:13.33, and freshman Micah Peterson placed 12th in 22:00.17.

The Libby girls were even more dominant, sweeping the first six places on the way to a 15-45 team victory.

Junior Alli Clemons led the field, winning the girls 5K in 22:15.92. Eighth-grader Kayleigh Desch was close behind in second at 22:24.47.

Freshman Ellory Anderson completed a Libby sweep of the top three with a time of 23:32.23.

Sophomore Ava Jensen and junior Lillian Bailey were separated by just four-hundredths of a second in the battle for fourth. Jensen crossed in 25:09.99, with Bailey finishing fifth at 25:10.03.

Senior Hailey Misner gave the Loggers six consecutive finishers at the front of the field, placing sixth in 25:50.51.

Farmer Takes Third, Watson Leads Libby at Timberlake Invitational

Libby cross country faced one of its deepest fields of the young season Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Timberlake Invitational at Farragut State Park, with junior Capri Farmer and senior Cody Watson leading the Loggers in the varsity races.

Farmer turned in Libby’s top finish of the day, placing third overall in the girls 5,000-meter race with a time of 19 minutes, 3.22 seconds.

Only Timberlake senior Lola Eggleston and Coeur d’Alene junior Anna Christman finished ahead of Farmer. Eggleston won in 18:35.51, followed by Christman in a personal-best 18:41.24.

The race featured more than 100 runners from schools across Idaho, Montana and Washington.

Desch was Libby’s second finisher, placing 32nd in 21:49.68, while Clemons followed in 36th at 22:12.33.

The Loggers then put two runners nearly side-by-side across the finish line. Misner placed 46th in 22:44.76, with freshman Ellory Anderson just behind her in 47th with a personal-best 22:44.94.

Sophomore Ava Jensen finished 77th in 24:15.97, while junior Lillian Bailey completed Libby’s varsity group in 87th at 25:54.42.

On the boys side, Watson finished 16th overall in a loaded field of more than 140 runners, completing the 5K course in 16:37.68.

Gonzaga Prep sophomore Miro Parr-Coffin won the race in 15:03.63, followed by Coeur d’Alene junior Wyatt Morgenstern in 15:09.70.

Watson finished just seven-hundredths of a second behind Lake City senior Samuel Reade, who took 17th in 16:37.75.

Sophomore Cody Katzer was the next Logger across the line, placing 65th in 18:37.34.

Freshman Micah Peterson finished 84th in 19:19.57, while eighth-grader Waylon Katzer recorded a personal-best 20:01.30 to place 105th.

Senior Eaddon Baca crossed in 20:39.34 for 109th, and junior Levi Nick finished 124th in 21:22.28.

The Timberlake Invitational gave Libby an opportunity to measure itself against a large field that included programs such as Coeur d’Alene, Gonzaga Prep, Sandpoint, Lake City, Timberlake, Borah and McCall-Donnelly.