Anselmo, Hegel lead Spartans to win in season opener; JV girls win XC title
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Pictured from left to right are Spartan cross country runners Caleb Gleason, Cameron Parkes and Jordan Phillips (behind Parks) at the season opening meet.
PRIEST RIVER — Robbie Anselmo did what a good senior leader does, making some big plays to propel Priest River to a hard fought 22-18 win over Riverside in the season opener on Friday night.
Anselmo finished with 121 yards rushing on 11 carries, including a 65 yard touchdown run, coming up big when the Spartans (1-0) needed it most in the second half, helping first year head coach Justin Torfin earn his first win.
“Robbie definitely made some huge plays for us,” said Torfin of his quarterback and safety. “He made some really big plays to get first downs on critical drives.”
Teryn Hanes added 70 yards on 18 hard carries with a score, Keegan Hegel 48 yards and a touchdown, and Brett Gordon 10 yards on the ground for the Spartans, who were crisp in the first half but nearly let the game slip away late. Teagun Holycross hauled in a 23 yard pass, the only completion as the ground and pound Spartans passed just three times out of the triple option.
“We escaped with a W. We started off strong in the first half and then shot ourselves in the foot the second half,” described Torfin. “The defense forced four turnovers, which was the difference in the game for sure. We have a lot of work to do to be ready for Newport this week.”
Priest River is at Newport on Friday night.
n Schmidt, Rantala, lead Spartan girls
POST FALLS — Izzie Schmidt clocked a 24:47 to finish second overall, leading the Spartan girls cross country team to the win in the JV race last Saturday at the Post Falls River Run at Kiwanis Park.
Annika Rantala was third (25:35), Erika Swoboda was fifth (25:54), Amber Johnson was 8th (26:28), Sharnai Hogan 12th (26:54) and Kymara Fulton 17th (27:58) on the 2.8 mile course.
Cameron Parkes and Caleb Gleason ran in the 12 team varsity race, finishing 9th and 10th, respectively, in 16:13 and 16:15. Jordan Phillips led the Spartan boys in the JV race with an 11th place finish in 18:19, while Travis Matthews was 20th in 18:56.
The Spartans are at Farragut State Park on Saturday.
n Weekly sports schedule
Wednesday, 9/5
Varsity boys soccer (home) vs. St. Maries, 6 p.m.
Varsity girls soccer (home) vs. St. Maries, 4 p.m.
Varsity volleyball (home) vs. Newport, 6:30 p.m.
JV volleyball (home) vs. Newport, 5 p.m.
Freshman volleyball (home) vs. Newport, 5 p.m.
Thursday 9/6
Varsity boys soccer (away) vs. Upper Columbia Academy, 4 p.m.
Friday 9/7
Varsity football (away) vs. Newport, 7 p.m.
JV football (away) vs. Newport, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday 9/8
Varsity volleyball @ Lakeland Invite, 8 a.m.
Varsity cross country @ Timberlake, 9 a.m. at Farragut.