Girls cross country team takes 5th at state, boys finish 6th

Bonners Ferry Girls Cross Country Team took fifth at the 3A state meet in Boise, while the boys team took sixth.

Leading the girls was senior Molly McClintock with a time of 21:26 for a 20th overall finish. Junior Dylan Sweeney took first for the Badger boys with a time of 17:28 for a 12th-place overall finish.

“I can’t say enough about how well every single runner ran,” said coach Paul Bonnell. “I’m most impressed by their courage to run well in light of their inexperience.”

“It was a successful trip, a fitting way to end an excellent season,” Bonnell continued.

On the girls’ side, McClintock, Erin Hiatt and Riley Boorman were the only runners with more than one year on the team.

“I’m really impressed that Alicia (Burnham), Amy (Elliott), and Lorena (LaBarbera) kept their wits about them in their first state race,” Bonnell said. “They ran so well, putting into practice what they’ve learned all season.”

For the boys, the only runners with more than one season under their belt were Sweeney, Reid Boorman and Greg Taggart. Sweeney was the lone Badger with state-level running experience.

“The rest are first-year high school cross country runners,” Bonnell said. “They ran boldly, committed to each other as teammates.”

“To pull the upset on Timberlake and to run as well as they did — amazing,” he continued. “Zach Hammond and Micah Krmpotich were some of the fastest freshmen in the race.”

Times and places for Bonners Ferry girls were 20, Molly McClintock, 21:26.43; 25, Erin Hiatt, 21:57.42; 31, Alicia Burnham, 22:25.01; 45, Lorena LaBarbera, 23:13.65; 52, Riley Boorman, 23:58.30; Amy Elliott, 24:22.49; 60, Katy Hiatt, 24:43.17.

Girls 5k Run CC 3A Girls

1 Bear Lake 36, 2 Kimberly 105, 3 Teton 114, 4 Timberlake 123, 5 Bonners Ferry 158, 6 Buhl 159, 7 McCall-Donnelly 161, 8 Salmon 168, 9 Snake River 182 and 10 Weiser 232.

Times and places for Bonners Ferry boys were 12, Dylan Sweeney, 17:28.21; 23, Zach Hammond, 18:02.75; 30, Micah Krmpotich, 18:16.16; 49, Reid Boorman 18:54.50; 69, Greg Taggart, 19:26.26; 79, Robert Lundgren, 20:16.59.

Boys 5k Run CC 3A Boys

1 Teton 77, 2 Sugar-Salem 115, 3 Weiser 122, 4 Kimberly 123, 5 Bear Lake 139, 6 Bonners Ferry 168, 7 Timberlake 173, 8 Salmon 201, 9 Payette 206, 10 Snake River 216, 11 Gooding 274, 12 Filer 283,13 McCall-Donnelly 306