Underclassmen lead the way

POST FALLS - The youth movement in the Inland Empire League was apparent after the conclusion of Wednesday's Region 1 cross country meets at Post Falls High.

And with three of four regional champions being underclassmen - that may not change for a while.

In the 5A girls race, Coeur d'Alene freshman Josie Brown won the girls 5A race in 19 minutes, 14 seconds as the Viking girls finished with a perfect score to win the regional title. The Viking boys followed with a perfect score in the boys team race, keyed by senior Cody Curtis, who won in 16:23, ahead of teammate Ben Woolley, who finished second in 16:35.

Lakeland junior Bekah Kastning, competing in her first regional meet, outran Sandpoint's Sydney Foster to the line in 21:14 to capture the girls race. Sandpoint junior Sam Lavora won the boys race by a wide margin over his closest competitor.

The top eight individuals and two teams qualify from the 5A race, while the top seven individuals and two teams qualify for the state meet in the other classifications on Oct. 29 at Eagle Island State Park in Eagle.

5A: Curtis competed in his first and only regional meet of his high school career after battling injuries for the past three years.

"This is the first year I've been completely healthy throughout the year," Curtis said. "When I've felt soreness this year, I've taken it easier than in the past. But I've been able to keep it pretty solid this year. We've became really close as a team this year."

Brown ran away from the pack in the 5A girls race, winning the event by 27 seconds for Coeur d’Alene.

“I was more excited for today than nervous,” Brown said. “I try to control my nerves by turning them into energy and it usually goes away.”

Kara Story, another freshman from Coeur d’Alene, finished second.

“It feels good,” said Story of the perfect score. “We’ve worked hard all season. It helps that we’re all together and push each other.”

The Lake City girls edged Post Falls by six points to qualify its girls team for the state meet.

“It was so close,” Lake City coach Heather Harmon-Reed said. “Post Falls did so well today. It was really one of those nerve racking times as a coach. We’ve been neck and neck with them all season, but our girls came in motivated and determined. Fortunately for us it worked out.”

Lake City’s boys team also qualified by finishing second over Post Falls by 33 points.

“Our boys have had an exceptional season,” Harmon-Reed said. “Some of our guys didn’t run the races they wanted to, but others stepped up and got the job done.”

Amber Hensley was the lone qualifier for Post Falls in the girls race.

“Hats off to Coeur d’Alene,” Post Falls coach Brian Trefry said. “We knew it was going to be close between us and Lake City for the second spot, but we just came up a little short today.”

After being chosen to host regionals, Trefry was hoping to simplify the course.

“It ran really well,” said Trefry of the course surrounding the Post Falls High campus, starting in the outfield of the baseball field and making a loop around the softball and football field before finishing on the track. “It was kind of a fast course. The biggest thing was that everyone stayed on course. We moved from the Kiwanis Park because we wanted to make this an easier race to run.

4A: Kastning started running cross country this fall to remain in shape for softball, which she wants to play at college.

“I felt like road kill after the race,” Kastning said. “All I was thinking was that I had to beat her. This is my first year doing cross country. I’m an athletic person and did what it took to win.”

At first, Kastning wasn’t enjoying the experience.

“I play softball so I wanted to stay in shape during the offseason,” Kastning said. “As soon as I started running and got into shape, I started to like it.”

Moscow won both the boys and girls team titles. Sandpoint’s boys and Lakeland’s girls also qualified for state by finishing second.

“Our girls have had a good year,” Lakeland coach Lee Libera said. “Aimee usually finishes ahead of Bekah, so Bekah winning today was big for us. Laramie (Coats) really brought it up today and helped us move past Sandpoint.”

Sandpoint junior Sam Levora overcame a case of severe shin splints in the past two weeks to not only win the boys 4A race, but keep pace with his 5A counterparts.

“This was big, very big for me,” Levora said. “I’ve been taking it a little cautiously in the last couple weeks. I knew I had to stay behind the Moscow runner and not let up until I finished.”

Of the run, Levora added while it was a struggle, the win was well worth it.

“It was the most painful experience ever,” Levora said. “But winning makes the pain go away in the end.”

Sandpoint coach Matt Brass was pleased with the day, including Lavora’s win.

“It was a goal of Sam’s to be a regional champion,” Brass said. “To run that well, especially against the 5A field, was really nice to see.”

Both classifications ran their varsity boys and girls races together, with Lavora finishing with the second best time of the day.

“Sam ran a really smart race today,” Brass said. “He put himself in a really good spot today.”

Sandpoint’s girls missed out qualifying by one point to Lakeland.

“The girls ran really well today also,” Brass said. “It was their goal to use their pack strength and they did that. All of them ran really well and stuck to the game plan.”

TEAM SCORES — (top two to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene 15. 2, Lake City 42. 3, Post Falls 75. 4, Lewiston 106.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Cody Curtis, Cd’A, 16:23. 2, Ben Woolley, Cd’A, 16:35. 3, Michael Dunton, Cd’A, 16:53. 4, Andrew Reagen, Cd’A, 17:01. 5, Kenny Colbert, Cd’A, 17:14. 6, Kyler Little, LC, 17:25. 7, Jake Finney, LC, 17:30. 8, Scott Knapp, LC, 17:31. 9, Tye Smith, LC, 17:53.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Coeur d’Alene 15. 2, Lake City 65. 3, Post Falls 71. 4, Lewiston 99.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Josie Brown, Cd’A, 19:14. 2, Kara Story, Cd’A, 19:41. 3, Punky Duran, Cd’A, 19:45. 4, Noelle Ball, Cd’A, 19:48. 5, Madison Sumner, Cd’A, 20:42. 6, Victoria Goetz, Cd’A, 20:45. 7, Amber Hensley, Post Falls, 20:54. 8, Alia Lacroix, LC, 20:56. 9, Clare Dumont, Cd’A, 21:08. 10, Ashley Schlangen, Lew, 21:10.

TEAM SCORES — (top two to state) — 1, Moscow 29. 2, Sandpoint 35. 3, Lakeland 56.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Sam Levora, Spt, 16:35.1. 2, Isaac Berger, Mos, 17:33. 3, Jasper Lafortune, Mos, 17:47. 4, Eric Storey, Mos, 17:48. 5, Xavi Deleon, Mos, 18:14. 6, James Cartwright, Spt, 18:24. 7, Chris Jones, Spt, 18:27.

TEAM SCORES — (top two to state) — 1, Moscow 38. 2, Lakeland 43. 3, Sandpoint 44.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Bekah Kastning, LL, 21:14. 2, Sydney Foster, Spt, 21:17. 3, Aimee Crowe, LL, 21:30. 4, Anna Campbell, Mos, 21:43. 5, Haley Adams, Mos, 22:01. 6, Jenny Van Ooyen, Spt, 22:08. 7, Laramie Coats, LL, 22:19.