SHS cross country looks to keep regional title streak alive

ATHOL — Sandpoint cross country will be chasing a pair of state berths Thursday when they compete in the 4A Region 1 championships at Farragut State Park.

The boys and girls are both seeking their ninth straight regional title.

The Sandpoint girls looked primed to keep that streak alive thanks to a talented top five of Ara Clark, Megan Oulman, Mackenzie Suhy-Gregoire, Grace Rookey and Payton Betz. In a hypothetical meet on Athletic.net, the Bulldogs are slated to edge out Moscow 18 to 36 for the regional crown and sweep the top four places.

Suhy-Gregoire is the defending individual regional champion.

The race for the regional title on the boys side is expected to be a dogfight between Sandpoint and Moscow. The two league foes have been neck and neck at meets all season long and now they finally get to battle it out.

A hypothetical meet on Athletic.net has the Bulldogs squeaking out a victory over the Bears 25 to 30, and Ben Ricks, Nathan Roche, Slate Fragoso, Trey Clark and Kasten Grimm finishing second, third, fifth, sixth and ninth respectively.

But obviously, those are just projections. What happens on race day is the only thing that matters.

If Lakeland fields a full team in the boys and girls races, then the top two teams on both sides will qualify for state, along with the top seven individuals. If they don't, then only one team on each side will earn a berth to state and fewer individual spots will be up for grabs.

It all starts at 10 a.m. Thursday with the girls race, followed by the boys at 10:40 a.m.