Kaul, Lund-Andersen lead strong showing by Bulldogs
—Courtesy photo The Bulldog boys warm up before a race on Saturday in Lewiston. It was a strong showing for SHS cross country, which won the varsity girls race, both JV races, and finished second in the boys race.
LEWISTON — Fin Lund-Andersen was just 1.5 seconds from breaking Sam Levora’s school record, leading the Bulldog boys to a second place finish at the 13 team Inland Empire League Challenge on Saturday at the Lewis-Clark State cross country course.
Lund-Andersen finished 6th among 112 runners in a blazing time personal best time of 15:50, one of 44 Bulldog runners to set PRs in a great team race. The Bulldog girls won the race, and both JV team finished first, speaking to the depth and talent on the Bulldogs’ roster.
There are now 20 boys under the team Varsity Standard of 19:30 and 15 girls under the 23:30 mark, the most on either side in school history.
Behind Lund-Andersen, Cole Dillon placed 20th and ran a PR of 16:57, moving up to No. 16 on the all time 5K school list to run second for the team. He was followed by Clay Rasmussen in 21st place and a time of 17:05, Peik Lund-Andersen in 31st at 17:43 and Riley McGinnis in 35th at 17:45 to round out the five scorers.
In the Varsity girls race, Sandpoint won the meet for the second time in three years behind great performances and solid pack running. Katherine Kaul placed second overall out of 77 runners and first for the team in a blistering time of 19:09. She was followed by teammate Hannah Davidson in 8th, running a 19:57. Dana Beaty ran exactly a one minute PR of 20:20 to place 9th, Niah Brass ran a 20:43 for 14th, Heather Wallace ran a 21:11 for 18th place, Farli Boden was 25th in 21:33 and Corina Wallace was 30th in 22:08. The Bulldog girls edged Post Falls in 11 points to take the title.
In the JV races, both Sandpoint teams took first, placing six runners in the top 10 in both races.
On the boys side, Story Crossett was 2nd overall out of 150 racers and first for the team, running a 17:56. He was followed by Sloan Woodward in 3rd (17:59), Gabe Merithew in 4th (18:04), Dutt Rogers in 5th (18:10), Garrett Pierce in 6th (18:20) and Kyle Almeida in 10th (18:24). The boys scored 20 points beat Lewiston by 20 points.
On the girls side, Chloe Braedt was 2nd out of 51 runners in a time of 22:03. Mesa Keating was close behind in 4th, running a 22:08. Paige Davidson was 6th in 22:36, Erin Meek 7th in 22:52, Chloe Pierce 8th in 23:08 and Taitam Bowen 9th in 23:12.
Sandpoint will host the William Johnson Invitational on Saturday at Travers Park, with the 800 meter kids race (6th grade and under) kicking off a day of races at 9 a.m. The middle school girls race is at 9:15, followed by the middle school boys at 9:45, the JV girls at 10:15, the JV boys at 11, the varsity girls at 11:30, and the varsity boys at noon.
n Former Bulldog runners fare well at college level
A trio of former Sandpoint cross country runners had strong meets this weekend.
Sam Levora, a junior at Washington State, ran at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday. He finished the 8K race in 24:19, the third Cougar finisher and 36th out of 202 runners. WSU finished seventh as a team.
Mikhaela Woodward was the third place finisher for Western Washington, and 17th overall, after clocking a 19:42 in a meet at Saint Martin’s University. Her team finished second overall.
Claire Pierce competed for George Fox at the Stanford Invite in Palo Also on Saturday, finishing the 6K distance in a PR of 24:48, which was fourth on her team.