Watt paces Badgers at Libby cross country race

| September 10, 2007 9:00 PM

LIBBY, Mont. — The Badgers' Ben Watt finished first for the Bonners Ferry cross country team during Friday's meet at Cabinet View Country Club.

Watt placed 36th out of 71 runners from 13 schools, contributing to the Badgers' 10th place team finish. He ran the 3-mile course in 18:46.

"Ben used surges to stay in the race mentally," said head coach Paul Bonnell.

"Those surges worked," Watt said after the race.

Dylan Sweeney gutted out a challenging finish to come in second for the Badgers and 39th overall with a time of 19:02. Tyler Warner regained confidence in the second half of the race, finishing 53rd in 20:04. Chris Wright and Nathan Grow ran personal bests of 23:15 for 69th and 27:32 for 71st, respectively.

Many of the team's runners made significant improvements in their second race of the season, Bonnell said. In addition, the boys varsity team has new runners Reid Boorman, Aaron Stockdale and Jake Watt.

Flathead High School from Kalipsell won the meet with 37 points followed by Glacier 78, Whitefish 90, Thompson Falls 150, Polson 164, Kellogg 207, Ronan 213, Libby 227, Plains 235 and Bonners Ferry 268.