Bulldogs shine at home cross country meet

SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint girls varsity team placed second out of seven teams at the William Johnson Sandpoint Invitational on Saturday at Travers park.  

They scored 62 points and had a 20:34 varsity pack time, improving on their already-solid season of performances. Leading the way was Mikhaela Woodward, who ran a 19:22 to place sixth on the 5K course, moving her to No. 6 on the all-time SHS list.  

Rainey Woodward was next in 9th place with a 20:13, and she moved into the No. 9 slot for the list. Sydney Foster was 11th with a 20:27, and Cori Marshall was 17th in 21:03 and moved to No. 19 on the list. Claire Pierce ran her first race since injury in May and finished in a 21:50 for 24th place, and Lauren Orr was 25th in a 21:52.

The varsity boys placed seventh among the 12 teams in the meet, led by Sam Powell, who ran a 17:24 and moved up to No. 21 on the SHS all-time list. Following close behind were Jacob Graham in 32nd place and Sam Levora in 36th, with 17:42 and 17:49 respectively. Alan Orr ran a PR of 18:06 for 43rd, and Mark Kennaly rounded out the top five with a PR time of 18:27. Adam Bourn was 6th man in an 18:40 and Kenny Kovalchuk was 57th with a 19:04. Levora, the usual top runner for Sandpoint, was in the lead for the first 4k until he was stricken with a terrible side-ache that nearly incapacitated him. He gutted the race out to the finish to help his team.

Both JV teams has outstanding results as well. The boys team placed 1st among JV teams, beating Coeur d’Alene 48 to 55. Leading the way was Matt Cloud, who ran for second place and finished in 17:41. Chris Cordova was right behind him in third, running a 17:42. Andy McGinnis was 8th in an 18:06. Freshman Reilly Wolfe was 17th, running a 19:23 and making the varsity standard for the first time. Finishing the top five for the team was Quinn Donnelly, who was 20th, running a 19:33 and missing the varsity standard by only three seconds.

The JV Girls placed second to Coeur d’Alene, and were led by senior Bree Jones. Jones ran a career PR of 21:44, placing 6th. Emily Marshall ran her first race back after a three week layoff due to a shin injury and was seventh in 22:12. Jacey Lawson was 11th in 22:31, Dana Beaty was 12th in 22:35, and Karlee Williams was 15th in 23:24.  

All five of the top finishers for Sandpoint made the 23:30 varsity standard for their first time of the season except Marshall, who has already run it three times this season.

The family of William Johnson was on hand for the entire day to enjoy the meet and celebrate William’s life. The meet is dedicated in memory of Johnson, who was killed in a ski accident in 2009. Thank you to the Johnson’s for the continued support of the program and for returning each year to run in the citizen race.

The Bulldogs will now rest up and fine tune for the district meet on Oct. 24.