PREP: XC sees several PRs, Beckle takes second; Volleyball sweeps Wampus Cats
BONNERS FERRY — Five badger cross country runners earned season best times, with Sydney Beckle taking second place and Matisyn Stiern taking fourth place for the girls at the Bonners Ferry Invite on Saturday, Sept. 16.
For Bonners Ferry, Sydney Beckle finished second behind Coeur d’Alene Charter’s Annabelle Carr, with a time of 22:12, her best time of the season.
“[Placing second] is a great thing for her to start seeing the process pay off a bit,” said Bonners Ferry head coach Tyler Warner. “Especially against those Charter girls that we'll need to be competitive against come districts.”
Also for the Badgers, Matisyn “Mati” Stiern earned a new personal record on the home course and placed fourth with a time of 23:01.
“She's really figuring out how hard she can push herself and has had such a positive attitude all season long, it's great to see that paying dividends about half-way through our races,” Warner said.
Micah Thomson also earned a season best time for Bonners Ferry, at 19:53, taking eighth overall.
“He's been our steady front runner all season long and I think is starting to gain confidence in himself as the leading scorer on this team,” Warner said. “He's pushing pace and is also starting to reap the benefits of trusting the process.”
“My favorite PR of the day though was probably Cole Phillips, who is probably the fastest overall guy on the team in terms of just pure speed,” Warner said.
Phillips outkicked two Priest River runners and out-leaned one at the finish line.
“We've been preaching ‘run through the finish line’ and Cole exemplified exactly why that is the case; he got us some points there at the very end and finished ninth instead of 11th,” Warner said.
For the second week in a row, Jackson Fiedler earned a PR, at 22:55.
“He's been setting some good goals for himself the last couple weeks, pushing himself to stay up with teammates he couldn't even see finishing a few weeks ago,” Warner said. “He's started finding new horizons which is great to see as well.”
Hosting the race, the Badgers had to adapt due to the grandstands still being under construction.
This week Badger cross country is focusing on pacing.
“In terms of not doing too much this week since we have a race on Thursday,” Warner said, adding the Badgers will do some light mileage and a speed workout on Tuesday just to keep the rhythm the same.
Typically on Thursdays, the Badgers will do hill training or speed workouts, so competing on Thursdays will not be outside of their regular running schedule.
“From a ‘peak fitness’ perspective, it times up just right anyway,” he said. “We'll be trying to do the same thing at districts, which is also a Thursday race. What I'm really looking forward to is having the following week off as sort of a bye week to focus on training and improving our overall health, as the cold season is starting to rear its ugly head.”
Thursday, the Badgers will turn their attention to Kellogg and Lewiston, their last two regular meets before districts. And, both of which are very fast courses and a great chance to capitalize on trusting the process, Warner said.
Cross country competes at Ivan Benson Invite in Priest River on Thursday.
BOYS TEAM SCORES – 1, Priest River, 39. 2, CDA Charter 43. 3, Bonners Ferry, 69.
TOP 10 – 1, Nathan Russell CDA Charter, 17:18. 2, Makai Peak, Kellogg, 17:34. 3, Nolan Oyler, CDA Charter, 17:46. 4, Ryken White, Kellogg, 18:15. 5, Colm McLaimtaig, Priest River, 18:28. 6, Brayden Lamanna, Priest River, 18:53. 7, Caeden McLaimtaig, Priest River, 19:20. 8, Micah Thomson, Bonners Ferry, 19:53. 9, Cole Phillips, Bonners Ferry, 19:57.58 ; 10, Devon Banning,
Priest River, 19:57.99.
GIRLS TEAM SCORES – 1, CDA Charter, 15.
TOP 10 – 1, Annabelle Carr, CDA Charter, 19:34. 2, Sydney Beckle, Bonners Ferry, 22:12. 3, Helen Oyler, CDA Charter, 22:52. 4, Matisyn Stiern, Bonners Ferry, 23:01. 5, Abigail Moehring, CDA Charter, 24:06. 6, Jane Robinson, CDA Charter, 24:26. 7, Alannah McLaimTaig, Priest River, 25:33. 8, Hailey Long, Priest River 26:03. 9, Braylyn Bayer, Bonners Ferry, 26:20. 10, Zoie Cromis, Kellogg, 26:36.
Volleyball sweeps Wampus Cats
Thursday, Sept. 14
Bonners Ferry 3, Clark Fork 0
BONNERS FERRY — The Badgers defeated the Clark Fork Wampus Cats 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22) in a 1A/3A matchup at Bonners Ferry High School on Thursday, Sept. 14.
The Badgers lead 23-19 in set one when senior defensive specialist Avery Bayer for the Badgers was pulled from the game due to a recurring knee injury she sustained last year.
The Badgers came back together after a long rally and an ace by freshman Taren Bateman winning the first set, 25-19. The second set went much of the same with the Badgers leading 21-19 after a kill by junior Helene Rae. The Badgers won again after a kill by Bateman.
In set three, the Wampus Cats dug deep and stayed with the Badgers matching point for point even into the double digits. The Badgers broke the distance again with Bateman scoring another kill, making it 24-22 and then going on and scoring 25, sweeping Clark Fork 3-0.
Rae led Bonners Ferry with nine kills followed by Bateman with five. Bayer led the team with three aces for the night, all earned in one set. Kimberly Lucas earned two blocks. Rylie Kimball led the team in digs with 12, followed by Sara Cummings with 11 and Bayer with 10.
Clark Fork’s Lilly Reuter posted another perfect serving night and had two aces to go along with it. Eloise Shelton, Amie Matteson and Aurora Lane all had two kills each. On defense, Amari Printz-Hay reached double-digits digs with 10 while Matteson added nine of her own.
The Badgers play Stillwater Christian at home on Friday at 6 p.m.
