Brass, Weisz lead Bulldogs at Battle for the 509
(Courtesy photo) The Bulldogs varsity pack, pictured in front from left to right: Paige Davidson, Chloe Braedt and Bionce Vincent. Back: Megan Oulman and Corina Wallace.
CHENEY — Seniors Niah Brass and Ephriam Weisz once again led the Bulldogs, who competed in the Battle for the 509 Cross Country meet on Saturday in Cheney.
With 36 schools and more than 1,200 competitors, including schools from the Greater Spokane League, this is one of the most competitive Regional invitationals in the Inland Northwest. Sandpoint ran an outstanding meet, with the varsity boys placing 5th overall, and the varsity girls 7th. Out of the 40 Bulldog runners competing, 27 overall posted individual personal records.
Weisz led the boys again this weekend with a 20th place finish in the field of 165 runners with a 16:47. Jett Lucas and Nikolai Braedt were close behind in 23rd and 25th respectively. Their times of 16:53 and 16:55 move them to No. 17 and No. 18 on the SHS all-time top 25 list as sophomores. Next for the boys was Gabriel Merithew in 35th in 17:10, Brady Nelsen in 37th at 17:12, Kieran Wilder in 46th at 17:26, and Seth Graham in 52nd with a 17:32. The boys were within 20 points of a 3rd place spot, with five of the seven setting personal records.
The girls packed up tight through two miles before breaking, and held on for a solid 7th place finish. Brass was the first Sandpoint finisher with a 20:20 in 24th place out of the field of 115 runners. Chloe Braedt was next with a 20:46 in 28th place, shaving 1 minute 20 seconds from her previous personal record. Paige Davidson was 39th with a 21:15, Corina Wallace was 54th in 21:41, and Megan Oulman was 66th in 22:07 as three of the five set personal bests.
“This was a good mid season test for the girls as they continue to build their pack strength and deliver solid results at big meets,” said Bulldog head coach Mat Brass.
For the second straight meet the boys JV shined with a second place performance against strong regional competition from both Idaho and Washington. Keegan Nelson was 12th overall and first for Sandpoint with a 17:46. Tyler McNamee was right with him, placing 13th in 17:48. Sloan Woodward was 16th in 17:56, Trey Clark was 19th in 18:06, and Gabe Christman was 24th in 18:22 to round out the scoring five. The race had 279 runners in it, and the boys had 16 of the 21 runners set personal records.
The girls JV also had incredible results at the meet, finishing 3rd and setting four personal records out of the seven runners. Mesa Keating led all Sandpoint runners in 16th place out of the 146 runners with a 22:45, earning her a spot on the varsity roster for next week’s meet. Quinn Hooper was close behind in 18th, running a 23:02. Chloe Pierce was next in 37th with a 24:03, Elisa Eastley was 39th in 24:13, and Mackenzie Suy-Gregoire was 47th in 24:37 to round out the scoring five.
The Bulldogs will play host to the William Johnson Sandpoint Invitational on Saturday at Travers Park. The day starts with a 6th grade and under kids race at 9 a.m., followed by the middle school girls at 9:15 a.m., middle school boys 9:45 a.m., JV girls at 10:15 a.m., JV boys at 11 a.m., varsity girls at 11:30 a.m., varsity boys at noon and a public race at 12:30 p.m. that is open to any and all area runners.