Badgers race to XC success at Moscow
—Photo courtesy TYLER WARNER Nick Magdaleno runs past a competitor at the Bob Weisil Invite in Moscow.
—Photo courtesy TYLER WARNER A quintet of Bonners Ferry High School runners pose with their medals. Pictured are Jordan Young, Ada Bonnell, Abigail Gorton, Austin Donn and Sam Gorton.
—Photo courtesy TYLER WARNER Badger Eric Ellis edges another runner at the Bob Weisil Invite in Moscow.
Bonners Ferry cross country made its way to the Elks Golf Course on the east edge of Moscow for the Bob Weisel Invite.
Moscow High School hosted several distances, include a 1.5-mile middle school course, a 5K high school course, and a 2K high school course. Moscow also made the unique move of dividing races into freshmen/sophomore and junior/senior races and combining boys and girls into the same competition. On a beautiful Wednesday afternoon the Badgers raced the 5K courses to great success despite early setbacks.
“The main issue was time,” said Bonners Ferry High School coach Tyler Warner. “We had some delays, including some construction north of Moscow. Races were supposed to start at 4 p.m., so when we rolled into Moscow at 3:30 p.m., we told the freshmen and sophomores they better start getting loose on the bus and probably wouldn’t get to tour the course until they were racing it.”
Typically athletes get to walk the course prior to competing so that they know what to expect and avoid getting lost, he added.
“They did really well,” assistant BFHS coach Catherine DelSalle said. “It was a great lesson in flexibility and trusting their training.”
The course featured a variety of hills and turns which the coaches agreed were in favor of the training Bonners Ferry had been doing. Austin Donn and Sam Gorton led the way for the boys, finishing in 19:29 and 19:32 respectively. Nathan Olsen finished in 25:36. Despite never having seen the course before, Abigail Gorton ran an impressive 21:35 for a first place victory and a season best time. Lauren Stidham also ran the freshmen/sophomore race and crossed the line at 27:05.
In the junior/senior race Jordan Young made her season debut after recovering from a knee injury, taking third place and a 21:48 finish. Ada Bonnell also attacked the hilly course to take fourth place and a season best time of 24:00. Liz Cowley and Rayan Naylor, also representing the Lady Badgers, finishing in 27:02 and 28:26 respectively. The junior/senior boys faced difficult competition, but still posted strong times. Dawson Thomas led the way for Bonners Ferry with a 19:14 finish while senior Eric Ellis crossed at 19:58. Nick Magdaleno, a junior, finished in 22:05 while senior Alex Urbaniak posted his best time this season, 23:55. Will Colson rounded out Bonners Ferry runners with a 26:42.
The Badgers will next race today, Sept. 29, in Priest River in their first glimpse at what will be the site of the Idaho District I 3A Championships in October.