PHOTO ESSAY: CROSS COUNTRY HOME MEET
The William Johnson Sandpoint Invitational cross country meet took place on October 10 at Travers Park.
Sandpoint’s home meet, the William Johnson Invitational, took place on Saturday, Oct. 10 at Travers Park.
High school cross country meets consist of four races: girls junior varsity, boys junior varsity, girls varsity, and boys varsity. Runners race a distance of five kilometers, or 3.1 miles over various surfaces: some courses are wooded, some have hills, and in the case of the Sandpoint meet, much of the race took place on flat pavement.
Individual medals were awarded to the top ten finishers in each race. The first five finishers from each team earn points that count toward their team’s overall score. The first place runner earns one point, the second place runner earns two points, and so on. The team with the lowest score wins each division.
The Sandpoint JV girls won second place overall, the varsity girls won first place overall, and both the JV and varsity boys teams finished fourth.
The girls junior varsity race began at 10:15 a.m. Dana Beaty (left, junior) and Farli Boden (right, sophomore) led the Sandpoint girls throughout the race.
Saydee Brass, a sophomore, ran the 5k in 24 minutes and 12 seconds. She was the sixth Sandpoint runner to finish, and 27th (out of 73) overall.
Clara Sallent (left), a senior, and Chloe Braedt (right), a freshman, finished just one second apart, with a 23:05 and a 23:04, respectively.
The Coeur d’Alene JV girls team was strong from the start; they finished in first place overall with a score of 20 points.
Dana Beaty finished seventh overall with a time of 22:12.
Overall, the Sandpoint JV girls finished in second place with 51 points. Farli Boden finished in second place (second from right) and Dana Beaty joined her in the top ten finishers in seventh place.
In the JV boys race, sophomore Peik Lund-Andersen (left) placed in the top ten at sixth place with a 17:58 time. James Bradley (right), a senior, ran a 19:14.
The JV boys race had the largest number of participants at 173 runners. Several Sandpoint racers mentioned that it was congested and challenging to pass. (Left to right): freshman Nick Krames, freshman Conner Matlosz, and junior Wyatt Hagen grouped together on the first lap.
Overall, Sandpoint JV boys placed fourth with 127 points. Coeur d’Alene won with 42 points.
In the varsity girls race, sophomore Hannah Davidson, senior Corinne McClelland, and senior Claire Pierce ran together on the first lap.
Sophomore Hannah Davidson placed fifth overall with her time of 19:50.
Junior Rainey Woodward placed 13th overall with her time of 20:37.
Freshman Niah Brass finished 19th with her time of 20:58.
The Sandpoint girls varsity team earned first place overall with 37 points. Sophomore Katherine Kaul ran a time of 19:42 to earn third place, Claire Pierce earned fourth place (19:45 time), and Hannah Davidson earned fifth place. The rest of the Sandpoint varsity girls finished in the top 20 runners with times under 21 minutes (an average of 6 minutes and 45 seconds per mile for three miles, or faster).
In the varsity boys race, Junior Clay Rasmussen ran a time of 17:35. He finished in 21st place and was the second Sandpoint runner to finish.
Sophomore Dutton Rogers ran an 18:41 race.
Senior Mark Kennaly ran a 17:48 race.
Sophomore Finan Lund-Andersen ran a 16:42 and finished in third place overall.
Overall, the Sandpoint varsity boys finished fourth with a score of 110 points. (Left to right) Cheney finished second, Coeur d’Alene finished first, and Coeur d’Alene Charter (on the ground; the team had left the event venue already) finished third overall.
Sarah Wells is a senior and is News Editor (first semester) and Photo Editor (year-long) for the Cedar Post. This is her second year on staff.
