Badger cross country momentum growing

KELLOGG — Badgers participated in Kellogg High School’s Ben Castro Invitational held at Pinehurst Golf Course on Sept. 20, with the boys and girls team breaking personal records and potentially a district title in sight.

Connor Alexander raced to a second-place finish for the Badger boys team — just seconds short of first with a time of 16:52.

Ceci Roemer took second place for the Badger girls team with a personal best time of 21:15, the first time in two years she broke her personal record. The third-place finisher clocked in 44 seconds behind Roemer.

In addition to the Badgers, teams taking part in the meet were teams from Immaculate Conception Academy, Lakeland, Timberlake, Coeur d’Alene Charter and Kellogg High School.

The warm temperatures and sunny skies were a “welcoming sight” for the Badgers who have recently competed in rainy and cloudy weather, Badgers head coach Tyler Warner said.

Warner described the two-loop course as having mainly natural surfaces that required circling the perimeter of the course but said the course featured interesting turns and surface changes from gravel, grass and back to bare ground.

A concern mentioned by Warner is the monotony of certain sections of the course, leaving athletes with missed opportunities. However, he mentioned the course does have a history of fast times clocked in if one is able to “stay awake.”

“As has been the case in recent weeks, our Badgers continued to post increasingly fast times and did not fall prey to the dullness of certain sections of the course,” Warner said.

The girls began the day competing first with many 5K times broken from all teams, but Badger Elizabeth Bourassa posted her fastest time of the season clocking in at 34:27.

A driven Lily Owens, in just her second race of the season, broke a new personal record finishing with a time of 34:26, just a second short of Bourassa.

Lilana Brinkman also came out of the meet with a new season best time of 27:14.

Jaden Byars clocked in at 24:03, Sydney Beckle finished with a time of 23:36; both runners broke personal records and placed in the Top 10 finishers.

The Badgers girls team took home second place behind Coeur d’Alene Charter. Warner said the injuries to Leah Moellmer and Camille Ussher impacted the girls’ team placement.

“Both are working with a positive attitude toward recovery and I expect to see them at least give Lewiston a try this weekend,” Warner said.

After reviewing the season best times on Athletic.net, Warner said the meet indicates that the Badgers could potentially compete for a district championship — the first time since 2007.

“We talked about it at practice last week, they know there is a chance to do something special at districts on Oct. 21,” Warner said. “Now it's a matter of putting work in and staying healthy or getting healthy enough to actually do it.”

The boy’s team performed diligently with fast times, with Alexander meeting his goal of finishing under 17 minutes for his 5K and was able to accomplish the goal.

Warner said Alexander’s determination has driven him to get to that goal and worked hard over the summer to get ready for this season. He ultimately finished in second behind a strong surge from Kellen Souza from Immaculate Conception Academy, who did not let Alexander pull away from him like at Priest River.

Collin Fairchild clocked in at 19:00, ahead of Levi Bonnell’s time of 19:01. Justin Strugar crossed just behind Bonnell at 19:11. Wyatt Smith continued an impressive season of chipping away at his personal record by dropping down to 19:20. Ryan Beckle also posted a personal record at 20:39. Carson Dineen had a season best time of 22:04.

Additionally, Ian Williams and Chase Xitco clocked in at 22:52 and 24:55 respectively, with eight of the nine boys creating new personal records.

On Oct. 9, Badgers will drive down to Lewiston for the Inland Empire Challenge. The course also is known by coaches as a course where many personal records are made.

“It has the potential to be the overall largest meet of the year for the Badgers,” Warner said.

More than 30 high schools are currently registered to attend and will be the Badger’s last regular meet before districts on Oct. 21.