Cross country teams headed to state

| October 19, 2006 9:00 PM

LEWISTON — One performance was expected, the other a bit of a surprise.

Both the boys and girls cross country teams will be heading to state after dominating performances at the 4A Regional championships Thursday at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston.

Megan Bartlett, Kat Vardell and Vicky Vardell took the top three places as the girls team served notice that they'll be contenders for a state championship next Saturday at the same course. Kat Vardell, who hadn't raced since September, returned to strengthen the team, which will be looking to take down No. 1 ranked Bishop Kelly of Boise next Saturday.

"They performed fantastic; went out fast and strong," said coach Matt Brass of his girls' team. "They knew they had the edge."

In a bit of a surprise, the boys' team, led by race winner Steve Teran, edged out Moscow to ensure the whole team a trip to state. David Householter finished 3rd, Adrian Mitchell 5th, Zeb Smith 11th, Tim Householter 12th, and in the most important finish of all, James VanEssen finished 13th. Since Moscow and Sandpoint tied after the five runners who score finished, the tiebreaker went to the top 6th place runner on each team, and VanEssen was eight seconds better than Moscow's sixth.

"We knew it might come down to the sixth runner, and it did," said Brass. "Tim Householter really stepped it up today and had a huge P.R (personal record)."

Both Sandpoint JV teams also won their respective races, showing the future is bright for the Bulldogs' cross country program.

The 4A state championships are next Saturday at Hells Canyon State Park.

Girls team scores — 1, Sandpoint 20. 2, Moscow 43. 3, Lakeland 74.

Individual — 1, Spt, Megan Bartlett 19:51. 2, Spt, Kat Vardell 20:10. 3, Spt, Vicky Vardell 21:47. 4, Lak, Destiny White 22:23. 5, Spt, Christine Miller 22:52. 9, Spt, Bailey Hein 23:25. 11, Spt, Ali Miller 23:49. 15, Spt, Rebecca Johnson 24:28.

Boys team scores — 1, Sandpoint 32. 2, Moscow 32. 3, Lakeland 68.

Individual — 1, Spt, Steve Teran 17:07. 2, Mos, Drew Law 17:32. 3, Spt, David Householter 17:37. 4, Mos, Stephan Farr 18:00. 5, Spt, Adrian Mitchell 18:08. 11, Spt, Zeb Smith 19:02. 12, Spt, Tim Householter 19:03. 13, Spt, James VanEssen 19:42.