Cross country shines at Battle for the 509

MEDICAL LAKE — Sandpoint cross country rewrote the school record books Saturday at the Battle for the 509.

Six boys and one girl ran times in the 5K that were good enough to move up or into the top-25 all time lists for the Bulldogs.

As a team, the boys finished third while the girls took home sixth.

The boys team also set a new pack time record of 16:18, breaking the old record by 24 seconds.

“On the boys side, I was kind of expecting this,” Sandpoint boys cross-country coach Matt Brass said. “I was expecting a good effort because we haven’t had a 5k in a while and the boys are a little more experienced.”

Junior Nikolai Braedt led the way for the Bulldogs with a 15:52.5 which is four seconds off the boys 5K school record.

Matt Brass called Braedt’s performance “gutsy.”

“He’s a consistent runner and he’s been very focused and dedicated in his training really since his freshman year,” he said.

Three other Bulldogs’ boys finished in the top 30. Junior Jett Lucas came across the finish line 12 seconds later to place 13th overall and move up to fourth on the all-time list.

Senior Gabe Christman came in 24th at 16:26.0 and junior Keegan Nelson took 29th with a time of 16:31. 9. Senior Seth Graham, sophomore Trey Clark and junior Tyler McNamee finished 32nd, 43rd and 46th respectively.

Rogers High School in Spokane took first in the meet on the boys’ side with 61 points while Sandpoint had 103.

Matt Brass said the level of skill on the opposing schools at the meet raised the intensity for the runners.

“It was a highly competitive meet which was what we wanted,” he said.

On the girls’ side, senior Paige Davidson sprinted across the line first for the Bulldogs with a time of 20:20.2. Senior Bionce Vincent ran the 25th fastest time in school history to finish right behind Davidson in 34th.

Sophomore Megan Oulman claimed 45th with a 20:58.2 and freshman Ara Clark secured a 49th place finish. Senior Maddie Morgan, sophomore Mackenzie Suhy-Gregoire and junior Camille Neuder earned 56th, 59th and 79th respectively.

The Sandpoint girls finished with 187 points as a team which is 134 points more than first place Post Falls. They also had a pack time of 20:55.

Sandpoints’ girls cross-country coach Angie Brass said this race was a great way for her runners to see where they stand midway through the season.

“Nearly everyone had a personal record [Saturday] and not just for the season, but a career personal record, so that was really exciting,” Angie Brass said. “A lot of even our new runners this season have far exceeded what they were thinking they were going to be able to do.”

Moving forward, Angie Brass said both teams will look to continue their consistent improvement.

“Something we’re always working on is that mental toughness and grit which is a huge part of cross country,” she said.

The cross-country team returns to action 8 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Inland Empire Challenge.

Battle for the 509

Fairways Golf Course

Sandpoint athletes in bold

GIRLS VARSITY

Top 20 finishers — 1, Alaina Stone (Colville), 18:02.9. 2, Sydney Shanahan (Post Falls), 18:14.3. 3, Madelyn Bonikowsky (L.V. Rogers), 18:14.4. 4, Lizzy Shaw (Riverside), 18:21.7. 5, Lauren Forster (CDA), 18:24.6. 6, Samantha Wood (Post Falls), 18:27.4. 7, Kylee Shakespeare (Central Valley), 18:48.8. 8, Bailey Shanahan (Post Falls), 19:40.6. 9, Madelyn Buckley (Lakeside), 19:40.9. 10, Ashley Rose (Mead), 19:43.9. 11, Anna Milazzo (Lakeside), 19:46.2. 12, Makaylie Stockert (Lakeside), 19:52.6. 13, Gracie Averill (CDA), 19:55.5. 14, Sarah Pecha (Central Valley), 19:55.6. 15, Jenni Bissell (Central Valley), 19:56.1. 16, Mya Edwards (Kettle Falls), 19:59.4. 17, Abby Buzolich (CDA), 20:01.7. 18, Anayah Brown (Post Falls), 20:03.1. 19, Alanna Parker (Mead), 20:03.7. 20, Laurel Hicke (Moscow), 20:07.8.

Team scores — 1, Post Falls, 53. 2, Central Valley, 67. 3, Lakeside, 87. 4, Mead, 133. 5, CDA, 141. 6, Sandpoint, 187. 7, Pullman, 211. 8, Cheney, 243. 9, Moscow, 261. 10, Gonzaga Prep, 262.

BOYS VARSITY

Top 20 finishers — 1, Jacob Easton (University), 15:23.8. 2, Jamar Distel (Riverside), 15:32.5. 3, Daniel Lee (Rogers), 15:33.9. 4, Bas Holland (Cheney), 15:38.4. 5, Jonas Bears (Gonzaga Prep), 15:38.7. 6, Caleb Lloyd (Mead), 15:41.4, 7. Eliason Kabasenche (Pullman), 15:44.8. 8, Alex Williams (Mountlake Terrace), 15:46.0. 9, Nikolai Braedt (Sandpoint), 15:52.5. 10, Issak Chol (Rogers), 15:55.2. 11, AJ Paulson (Mead), 15:57.2. 12, Jakob Trantum (Rogers), 16:00.2. 13, Jett Lucas (Sandpoint), 16:04.0. 14, Elliot Williams (Mead), 16:07.3. 15, Eli Gilbert (Mead), 16:07.4. 16, Brayden Merrill (Lakeside), 16:10.9. 17, Elijah Roberts (Rogers), 16:16.3. 18, Braden Dance (CDA), 16:18.2. 19, Joseph Brantley (Rogers), 16:19.4. 20, Brycen Gardner (Mead), 16:20.1.

Team scores — 1, Rogers, 61. 2, Mead, 66. 3, Sandpoint, 103. 4, Gonzaga Prep, 139. 5, Lakeside, 162. 6, University, 202. 7, Cheney, 249. 8, Pullman, 295. 9, Mountlake Terrace, 308. 10, Moscow, 315.