Kaul, Pierce lead Bulldog girls to title; Bullpups sweep races

SANDPOINT — Sophomores Katherine Kaul and Finan Lund-Andersen each nabbed third place finishes to lead the Bulldog cross country teams at the 6th annual William Johnson Sandpoint Invitational on Saturday at Travers Park. 

Claire Pierce had the meet of her varsity career to date, shaving 45 seconds off of her PR to finish fourth in the 11 team field, just four seconds behind Kaul’s 19:42, and four seconds ahead of Hannah Davidson’s fifth place time of 19:50.

Bulldog head coach Matt Brass praised Pierce, part of a pack of seven varsity runners each capable of scoring low in any field. The entire varsity placed in the top 19 at the meet, with new runners stepping up each week.

“Claire’s had a real strong senior season, and that was another breakout for her,” said Brass, whose team continues to push each other in packs at the front of the race. “They all ran really well, and a couple ran outstanding.”

Sharon Rowe was 12th in 20:23, Rainey Woodward was 13th in 20:37, Cori McClelland was 15th in 20:48, and Niah Brass was 19th in 20:58. Once again the girls showed incredible pack strength, placing all seven runners within one minute and 16 seconds of each other.

Finan Lund-Anderson clocked a 16:42 to lead the Bulldog boys to a fourth place finish out of 13 teams. He was followed by Clay Rasmussen in 21st place (17:35), Jacob Graham in 26th (17:41), Reilly Wolfe in 29th (17:45), Mark Kennaly in 31st (17:48), Dutt Rogers in 52nd (18:41) and Sloan Woodward in 60th (18:52) out of the 90 total runners. The boys were running without Cole Dillon, who was sitting out the weekend with a foot injury.

One of the surprises of the day was sophomore Peik Lund-Andersen, who ran a 17:58 to finish sixth in the JV race, and more importantly, earn a spot on the varsity roster for the upcoming Regional meet.

“He ran more than a minute PR, and earned a varsity spot at Regionals,” said Brass, noting normal No. 1 runner Jacob Graham wasn’t feeling well. “About a quarter mile into the race he knew it would be a tough day. The boys goal is to be in the top four in state again, and they know what they want to work on.”

Inn the Girls JV race, Farli Boden placed 2nd in the race with a great last kilometer surge, running a 21:38. Dana Beaty ran a 22:12, placing 7th, and was followed by Chloe Braedt (13th in 23:04) and Clara Sallent (14th in 23:05) who both broke the Varsity Standard of 23:30 and set new PRs. Erin Meek ran a 23:48 in 23rd place, Saydee Brass placed 27th in 24:12, and Lindsay Baumann was 41st in 25:36 to round out the top seven out of the 73 runners in the race. The girls team placed 2nd out of 6 teams.

The boys JV team placed 4th out of 14 teams, and were lead by Peik Lund-Andersen, who placed 6th in 17:58. Daniel Radford placed 23rd in 19:09, James Bradley was 25th in 19:14, Riley McGinnis was 36th in 19:36, Wyatt Hagen 41st in 19:41, Kyle Almeida was 42in in 19:42, and Gabe Merithew was 46th in 19:49 to round out the top 7. There were 173 runners in race.

The Bulldogs are at Regionals on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Farragut State Park.

n Bullpups win team titles at Sandpoint meet

In the Middle School races, both the SMS boys and the girls teams won the team titles. The girls were led by Hattie Larson, who was 2nd in 9:45, and Mesa Keating, who placed 9th in a 10:13 over the 1.5 mile course. The boys were led by Conrad Becker, who placed 5th 9:05, and Tyler Burgess, who was 7th in 9:08.

Other scoring girls were Annaby Kanning 11th, Camille Neuder 12th and Taitam Bowen in 15th. All 10 Sandpoint girls that participated ran a personal best on Saturday.

Other scoring boys were Gabriel Christman 13th, Tyler Almeida 14th and Kayden Fyfe 16th.

“This team is really starting to click. Only five of 34 runners had any running experience prior to this season,” said coach Jake Peterson. “I am so proud of the way they keep improving and getting tougher. I cannot wait to see who steps up next.”

n Burgstahler, Woodward running strong

Saint Johns ran at Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invitational recently, placing 5th out of 19 teams, and 3rd for their Division. Former Bulldog three sport standout Matt Burgstahler finished the race with a 26:35 Personal Record over the 8k (5 mile) course, finishing 72nd among 361 runners.

Burgstahler has solidified his spot on the varsity team this season with a large improvement over last year.

Former Bulldog Mikhaela Woodward ran in her second and thrid collegiate races recently, running a 19:04 5K, placing 13th overall and 10th on her team.

Last Saturday, she placed 10th on her team and 88th out of 144 runners at a home meet in Bellingham and made the conference team for WWU.

She’ll now compete at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Oct. 24 on the same home course.