Kaul, Davidson, Weisz lead Bulldog XC teams to sweep
SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint High School cross country team was eager to race after last week’s meet cancellation due to air quality, using that built up energy well and dominating the Coeur d’Alene Invitational at Hayden Canyon on Saturday.
The girls varsity, boys varsity, girls JV and boys JV teams all took first place at the meet for a team sweep, placing all scoring runners in the top 20 overall in each race. There were 16 overall 5K personal records, and 23 course records achieved at the meet.
In the boys varsity race, the team overcame a poor start and patiently moved throughout the rest of the 5K course to win the meet with a team score of 52, distancing University High from Spokane who had a 66 points for second place. There were 110 runners in the race and 16 full teams competing, and by the end Sandpoint had all five scoring runners in the top 15. Ephriam Weisz was the first runner for Sandpoint, placing 8th in 17:16. Cole Dillon was 9th in 17:21, Garrett Pierce was 11th in 17:37, Peik Lund-Andersen was 14th in 17:48, and Kieran Wilder was 15th running a 17:50. Tyler McNamee (18:27) and Kyle Almeida (18:53) rounded out the varsity seven.
In the girls race, there were 14 full teams and 92 runners. The Sandpoint girls got out strong and consistently moved up during the race to win with 52 points over host Coeur d’Alene, who took second with 67 points. Katherine Kaul led the way for the girls with a 2nd place finish of 19:02, followed closely by Hannah Davidson who took 4th place with a 19:22. Niah Brass was 11th in 20:53, Heather Wallace was 15th in 20:58, and Kali Scheel was the 19th in 21:12. Farli Boden (21:37) and Ciera Bailey (21:46) rounded out the varsity seven for the girls.
The girls JV race was the most dominant of the day, with Sandpoint scoring a paltry 19 points after taking 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in the race out of the field of 74 runners. Sharon Rowe led the way with a 21:33 1st place finish, followed by Paige Davidson in 3rd with a 21:52, Corina Wallace 4th in 21:53, Camille Neuder 5th in a 22:22, and Chloe Braedt 6th in a 22:33.
In the boys JV race, Dutt Rogers placed 2nd in an 18:26 to pace the boys team to the win with 35 points, with University High at 68 points for 2nd and the next closest. Seth Graham was 5th in 19:08, Sloan Woodward 7th in 19:17, and Addison McNamera and Teagan Dieter both ran a 19:29 for 10th and 11th place in the field of 165 runners.
Sandpoint will be taking part of the team to Boise next week to compete in the Bob Firman Invitational. The race showcases most of the talent in Idaho and is a great preview for the State Meet, which will be run on the same course on Oct. 28.