Bulldogs in the hunt for 4A state XC trophies

SANDPOINT — Two teams that lean heavily on pack strength will vie for top four team finishes and coveted state trophies at the 4A Idaho State cross country championships today at the Lewiston Orchards.

Both the Bulldog boys and girls teams are ranked No. 5 in 4A, and both feel a strong race on a course they know like the back of their hands could help both bring some hardware back north.

The Bulldog boys team is led by a strong trio in senior Ephriam Weisz and sophomores Nikolai Braedt and Jett Lucas. The strength of the team is that there isn’t a big drop off behind the lead three, with Seth Graham, Gabriel Merithew, Brady Nelsen and Kieran Wilder part of a varsity seven that smashed the team record for average time. The top five score, and the final two runners bumping other teams back will be key.

“They race as a unit, as a team instead of just seven individuals,” said Bulldog head coach Matt Brass. “If they care about the results of their six other teammates as much as their own we will do well.”

Brass feels Lucas, Braedt and Weisz are all capable of earning State Medalist honors with a top 20 finish. The fields at state meets are huge, and while the Bulldogs won’t be in the lead pack, they need to stay close.

“The keys will be to go out bold and put themselves into at least the top 30 coming off of the field, and working into the top 20 by the 1.5 mile mark,” said Brass of the strategy. “You can’t start too far back in the pack at the state race, the leaders don’t come back.”

Leading the girls team are senior captains Niah Brass and Chloe Braedt, each of whom could challenge for Medalist honors with a PR and sub-20 minute finish.

“Niah will draw from her state experience and sub-20 minute PR, competing at state for the fourth time. Chloe has been an alternate multiple years and knows what it looks like,” said girls coach Angie Brass. “The keys will be running aggressively in the middle portion of the race and finishing strong.”

Paige Davidson, Mesa Keating, Megan Oulman, Bionce Vincent and Corina Wallace round out a team similar to the boys with bunched up depth and speed.

Angie Brass admits the girls want that fourth place trophy badly, and knows they’ll need to show a lot of grit and courage from everyone to earn it.

One thing that bodes well for the Bulldogs is course familiarity, having already raced twice on the 5K track already, gleaning valuable knowledge of the layout, terrain and corners, and where to push harder to shave that extra little bit of time.

“We are very fortunate to have already raced there twice this season and we know the course and every corner intimately,” said Angie Brass. “We have made adjustments each time and are going in to battle with the best teams in the state on Saturday.”

The 4A girls race starts at 11:15 a.m., and the 4A boys race at 12:45 p.m. at The Orchards in Lewiston.