Lord captures fifth at districts, punches ticket to state
PRIEST RIVER — Dylan Lord will be the sole Spartan on the start line for Saturday's 3A state cross country championships at Eagle Island State Park.
The junior placed fifth in the 3A District 1-2 meet at Priest River High last Thursday to secure his spot at state for the second straight year. Lord ran a personal record of 17:57 at districts.
"He ran great," head coach Lance Clark said.
All season long the Spartans struggled to field a full team on the boys and girls side, but they got some much needed help at districts.
"We were able to run with both boys and girls teams thanks to some cheerleaders, football and soccer players who joined the cross country team to run the race," Clark said. "This was really helpful and made it so that two extra teams in the league could qualify for state. It also gave their fellow Spartan cross country runners a better chance to make it to state individually."
The top three teams in the boys and girls races qualified for state, and the Priest River boys finished fourth, 25 points behind third-place Timberlake.
Junior Zach Engelson was just three spots short of qualifying for state as an individual, capturing 20th with a 19:18. His younger brother, Tyler Engelson, came across the finish line right behind him in 21st. Both played on the soccer team this fall.
Ethan Korff took 26th, Brayden Lamanna 31st, Dalton Brown 36th, Tanner Bowers 37th and Carter Korff 47th.
On the girls side, the Spartans placed fifth as a team. Junior Annie Morrell led the way, securing 14th with a 24:26. She was just a few spots away from making it to state.
Haley Braae earned 25th, Hadassah Davis 26th, Athena Walker 29th, Stella Grainger 33rd and Dolly Owdetallah 34th.
Clark hopes the Spartans can get enough athletes out next year to get the girls and boys teams to state.
"With training and early participation next year, we could take two teams," he said.
Lord will compete in the state meet at 8:30 a.m. PST Saturday. He will be looking to improve on his 50th place finish in 2020.
BOYS
TEAM SCORES (Top three to state) — 1, Timberlake 37. 2, Cd’A Charter 55. 3, Bonners Ferry 72. 4, Priest River 97. 5, Kellogg 101.
PRIEST RIVER RESULTS — 5, Dylan Lord, 17:57.2. 20, Zach Engelson, 19:18.4. 21, Tyler Engelson, 19:19.2. 26, Ethan Korff, 19:48.1. 31, Brayden Lamanna, 20:20.3. 36, Dalton Brown, 20:44.3. 37, Tanner Bowers, 21:10.0. 47, Carter Korff, 22:40.8.
GIRLS
TEAM SCORES (Top three to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene Charter 40. 2, Bonners Ferry 43. 3, Timberlake 55. 4, Kellogg 106. 5, Priest River 119.
PRIEST RIVER RESULTS — 14, Annie Morrell, 24:26.6. 25, Haley Braae, 30:02.3. 26, Hadassah Davis, 30:03.2. 29, Athena Walker, 34:28.2. 33, Stella Grainger, 47:34.8. 34, Dolly Owdetallah, 47:35.2.
