Dylan Lord claims spot at state with performance at districts

ATHOL — Dylan Lord continued a stellar sophomore campaign this past Thursday at Farragut State Park when he placed sixth at districts to earn a chance to compete at state.

Lord (18:21.4) finished three tenths of a second short of matching his personal record from earlier this season. Last year at the same course, Lord took 24th at districts with a 19:54.5.

Four other boys competed for the Priest River cross country team at districts. Freshman Keegan Poirier and sophomore Ethan Korff just missed out on making it to state. The top 11 runners on the boys side at regionals earned a spot to state and Poirier took 15th with a 19:32 while Korff placed 19th with a 20:02. Both set new PR's.

Sophomore Aiden Troumbley ran a PR of 22:28 to capture 40th out of 54 runners and sophomore Edgil Williams secured 44th.

The top three teams qualified for state. The Spartans took fifth, finishing one point away from fourth-place Bonners Ferry and 16 away from third-place Coeur d'Alene Charter.

Head coach Lance Clark is excited about the future for the boys.

"The boys are young, but talented," he wrote in an email. "With more additions and more support, they could be a potential contender for league champions next year. We will need more kids to join at the beginning of next year for that to happen though."

On the girls side, senior Annika Rantala, the 2019 district champion, finished just a few places short of making it to state. She placed 12th with a 24:03.

Clark could tell Rantala was having a tough time during the race and after the meet they discovered she competed with bronchitis.

"She was not able to catch her breath throughout the race," he wrote.

Clark said they sent an appeal to the Idaho High School Activities Association for a medical hardship, but their request to allow Rantala a chance to compete at state was rejected.

Rantala had an impressive career during her time as a Spartan. She made it to state three times and placed 10th at state as a junior.

This season, Rantala won a pair of races and finished runner-up in two others.

Clark said it's unfortunate that Rantala won't get a chance to put a bow on a historic career, but she certainly left her mark on the program.

"We are really proud of her for her hard work and effort in her training and competing," he wrote.

Lord, the sole state qualifier for the Spartans, will compete in the boys 3A cross country state championships at 9:45 a.m. Friday at Portneuf Wellness Center in Pocatello.