Cross country notches handful of personal bests
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Junior Graden Hanes competes in the BFHS Invite on Saturday. He finished ninth at the event and ran a personal best at the Ben Castro Invite last Thursday.
Priest River cross country participated in a pair of meets this past week and saw a handful of athletes run personal bests.
The Spartans first took part in the Ben Castro Invite last Thursday at Pinehurst Golf Course. Priest River took advantage of the flat course and the girls took second as a team among the four teams at the meet. They finished five points behind league rival Bonners Ferry.
Senior Sharnai Hogan led the way with a personal best 20:47 to finish in third. Junior Annika Rantala came across the line two seconds later to claim fourth and senior Izzie Schmidt took 10th with a 22:26.
Freshman Lilly Freitas ran a personal record 23:59 to claim 15th and a second later sophomore Erika Swoboda finished in 16th.
The boys team finished in last among the five schools at the meet. Junior Graden Hanes shined with a personal best 19:22 to secure 17th place and freshman Dylan Lord raced to his best time ever to earn a 19th place result.
Freshman Ethan Korff, sophomore Bradley Bennett and freshman Edgil Williams all ran personal bests to claim 31st, 39th and 41st respectively. In total, eight runners on the team ran personal bests at the meet.
Two days later, the Spartans headed north to Bonners Ferry High School to compete in the BFHS Invite.
The Bonners Ferry course provided a tougher challenge for Priest River as they battled Kellogg and the Badgers.
The boys finished third while the girls went head-to-head with Bonners Ferry and took second.
Hanes led the boys again with a 20:08 to take ninth and Korff and Lord came across in 13th and 14th.
For the girls, Rantala finished third, Hogan claimed sixth and Schmidt secured 10th.
Priest River will take part in the Sandpoint Invitational starting at 9:15 a.m. Saturday at Travers Park.
Ben Castro Invite
VARSITY GIRLS
PRIEST RIVER RESULTS — 3, Sharnai Hogan, 20:47. 4, Annika Rantala, 20:49. 10, Izzie Schmidt, 22:26. 15, Lilly Freitas, 23:59. 16, Erika Swoboda, 24:00. 22, Jaylein Zylstra, 27:06. 27, Olivia Tefft, 33:16.
VARSITY BOYS
PRIEST RIVER RESULTS — 17, Graden Hanes, 19:22. 19, Dylan Lord, 19:39. 31, Ethan Korff, 20:39. 39, Bradley Bennett, 21:44. 41, Edgil Williams, 21:51. 46, Keith Magers, 23:00. 51, Charles Bennett, 25:06.
BFHS Invite
VARSITY GIRLS
PRIEST RIVER RESULTS — 3, Annika Rantala, 21:19. 6, Sharnai Hogan, 23:12. 10, Izzie Schmidt, 24:35. 12, Ainslee Nordby, 25:40. 15, Jaylein Zylstra, 29:30. 17, Olivia Tefft, 32:26.
VARSITY BOYS
PRIEST RIVER RESULTS — 9, Graden Hanes, 20:08. 13, Ethan Korff, 20:50. 14, Dylan Lord, 21:08. 18, Bradley Bennett, 22:43. 20, Edgil Williams, 23:18. 26, Charles Bennett, 28:59.