PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Transitioning to the finish

by JASON ELLIOTT
Sports Writer | October 22, 2015 8:10 PM

ATHOL — During the transition from summer to fall midway into the cross country season, another transition from soccer to running started for Post Falls High freshman Jazzmine Kernodle.

On Thursday in the 5A Region 1 meet at Scott Field at Farragut State Park, all that work paid off in a season-high finish.

Kernodle, who played on the Trojans’ varsity soccer team as well, finished second in 20 minutes, 0.4 seconds.

“I’m pretty surprised it happened,” said Kernodle, who had competed in three cross country meets prior to regionals. “I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was just hoping to finish in the top 10, but it’s a good feeling.”

Coeur d’Alene junior Caitlin Conway won the 5A race in 19:29.7, her fourth win in her last five races.

“It’s exciting,” Conway said of the regional title. “I never thought it was going to happen coming into high school, and now it happened. It’s a good feeling, but I know it helps my team even more.”

Coeur d’Alene swept team titles in 5A, as did Sandpoint in 4A and Timberlake in 3A as all six area classifications used the day to test the course before the state meet, to be held next Saturday at Farragut.

5A: Alex Walde was the Vikings’ top finisher in fourth in 17:02.7, helping his team to a five-point win over Lewiston.

Post Falls’ Dylan Schilling advanced to state after finishing ninth in 17:26.9.

“I liked all of this course,” Conway said. “It’s a hilly course, but not all of it. It pushes you to stay in it mentally and not fall asleep while you’re racing. It’s a mental course definitely.”

Kernodle and Ida Mae Grahlman advanced to state for Post Falls.

“They ran a great race,” Post Falls coach Brian Trefry said. “Ida had been nursing an injury, but came through it really well. Those two run so well together, and both are still underclassmen. They’re a good 1-2 combination.”

4A: Cooper Haney of Lakeland finished third in 17:06.7 in the boys race, and the Hawks’ Isabelle Kirk was seventh in the girls race in 20:44.4 to advance to state.

Moscow’s Josh Corgetelli (16:18.8) and Katherine Ruck (18:02.6) were regional champions. Sandpoint’s Katherine Kaul was second in 19:47, helping the Bulldogs to a 23-point regional title win.

3A: Brayden Menti and Taylor Hammond distanced themselves from the pack midway through the 3.1-mile race, cruising to district titles for Timberlake.

“Normally Brayden and Landon (Davis) battle each other at the front,” Timberlake coach Shawn Lawler said. “It was just Brayden’s day to win. He’s put in the work and it’s good to see that pay off for him.”

Five of the six state qualifiers in the girls race came from Timberlake.

“I was really happy with our ladies,” Lawler said. “They’ve put a lot of work in and they raced really well together. With that also, I think they did a great job of preparing each other, which is something where our leaders get the girls ready on the line. And they really did a great job of that today.”

Menti, the son of Timberlake High defensive coordinator and ex-softball coach Mike Menti, won the boys race in 17:18.6.

“I can always hear my dad and coach when I’m running,” Brayden Menti said. “He (my dad) definitely helped me a lot today.”

Hammond won the girls race in 20:05.1.

“I really like this course,” she said. “It’s a fast course, even with all the hills. It’s just a fun course. The downhill part was nice. Our coach always tells us to run a little out of control and fire off the turns, which we did well today.”

2A: Michael Graves (17:14.6) and Sophie McPhilomy (22:08.5) won District 1-2 championships for Coeur d’Alene Charter.

1A: Jesse Whipple of Kootenai finished fourth in 17:56.4 to advance to state, along with Naphtali David, who finished 16th in 19:14.1. Grace McInturff was fifth in 23:56.4 and Rachel Riley eighth in 24:17.8 for Kootenai to advance to state.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene 30. 2, Lewiston 35. 3, Post Falls 81. 4, Lake City 84.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Austin Byrer, Lewiston, 16:12.3. 2, Joey Perez, Lewiston, 16:53.2. 3, Sakti Woodbury, Lewiston, 17:00.3. 4, Alex Walde, Coeur d’Alene, 17:02.7. 5, Karson Peach, Coeur d’Alene, 17:04. 6, Jose Winton, Coeur d’Alene, 17:04.7. 7, Zac Magee, Coeur d’Alene 17:21.5. 8, Nolan Mullen-Huber, Coeur d’Alene, 17:22.1. 9, Dylan Schilling, Post Falls, 17:26.9. 10, Gabe McCombs, Coeur d’Alene, 17:43.4.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene 28. 2, Lewiston 58. 3, Post Falls 64. 4, Lake City 82.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Caitlin Conway, Coeur d’Alene, 19:29.7. 2, Jazzmin Kernodle, Post Falls, 20:00.4. 3, Rylee Brown, Coeur d’Alene, 20:17.5. 4, Miram Ames, Lewiston, 20:18.7. 5, Kaitlyn Blume, Lewiston, 20:24.6. 6, Ida Mae Grahlman, Post Falls, 20:26.24. 7, Kara Troyer, Coeur d’Alene, 20:36.4. 8, Ciera Bailey, Coeur d’Alene, 20:37.2. 9, Riley Fowler, Coeur d’Alene, 20:56.1. 10, Carmen Duffy, Coeur d’Alene, 21:03.5.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Sandpoint 30. 2, Moscow 41. 3, Lakeland 63.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Josh Corgatelli, Moscow, 16:18.8. 2, Mohammad Monsour, Moscow, 16:58.4. 3, Cooper Haney, Lakeland, 17:06.7. 4, Finan Lund-Andersen, Sandpoint, 17:12.3. 5, Cole Dillon, Sandpoint, 18:03.3. 6, Reilly Wolfe, Sandpoint, 18:03.6. 7, Mark Kennaly, Sandpoint, 18:12.9.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Sandpoint 30. 2, Moscow 53. 3, Lakeland 62.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Katherine Ruck, Moscow, 18:02.6. 2, Katherine Kaul, Sandpoint, 19:47.6. 3, Hannah Davidson, Sandpoint, 20:18.8. 4, Corinne McClelland, Sandpoint, 20:29.8. 5, Rainey Woodward, Sandpoint, 20:36. 6, Sharon Rowe, Sandpoint, 20:40.9. 7, Isabelle Kirk, Lakeland, 20:44.4.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Timberlake 34. 2, Bonners Ferry 52. 3, Priest River 56. 4, Kellogg 100.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Brayden Menti, Timberlake, 17:18.6. 2, Landon Davis, Timberlake, 17:37.3. 3, Caleb Gleason, Priest River, 18:15.5. 4, Zak Bishop, Kellogg, 18:28.1. 5, Cameron Parkes, Priest River, 18:38.1. 6, Jack Wade, Bonners Ferry, 18:44.9. 7, Jamin Bontrager, Bonners Ferry, 18:46.7. 8, Nolan Stidham, Bonners Ferry, 18:48.3. 9, Storm Techau, Timberlake, 18:50.4. 10, Jordan Hardy, Timberlake, 18:54.5.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Timberlake 18. 2, Bonners Ferry 43. 3, Kellogg 75.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Taylor Hammond, Timberlake, 20:05.1. 2, Abigail Peightal, Timberlake, 20:35.4. 3, Jordan Young, Bonners Ferry, 21:16.8. 4, Jamey Weishaar, Timberlake, 21:19.8. 5, Lilly Kelley, Timberlake, 22:20.4. 6, Sarah Pryor, Timberlake, 22:54.2.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Winning team to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene Charter 18. 2, Grangeville 45.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Michael Graves, Cd’A Charter, 17:14.6. 2, Dillon Emery, Cd’A Charter, 17:21.7. 3, Diego Barela, Grangeville, 17:28.2. 4, Lance Fredericks, Cd’A Charter, 17:40.4.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Coeur d’Alene Charter 15. Grangeville, incomplete team.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Sophie McPhilomy, Cd’A Charter, 22:08.5. 2, Lindy Osborn, Cd’A Charter, 23:04.7. 3, Emily Kaschmitter, Grangeville, 23:15.2.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Top three to state) — 1, Logos 26. 2, Potlatch 72. 3, Troy 78. 4, Kootenai 79. 5, Highland 122. 6, Prairie 168. Clark Fork, Clearwater Valley, Deary, Genesee, incomplete teams.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Josiah Anderson, Logos, 16:54.8. 2, Cole Olsen, Clearwater Valley, 16:59.2. 3, Jackson Dickison, Logos, 17:04.4. 4, Jesse Whipple, Kootenai, 17:56.4. 5, Kyle Richmond, Troy, 17:57.7. 6, Devin Richards, Potlatch, 18:03.2. 7, Boden Lloyd, Logos, 18:08.9. 8, Morgan Weeks, Highland, 18:11.1. 9, August Igelski, Logos, 18:11.8. 10, Andy Handel, Logos, 18:13.6. 11, MacKenzie Judson, Potlatch, 18:49.1. 12, Miles Whitling, Logos, 18:56.7. 13, Brice Foote, Troy, 18:59.8. 14, Drew Pritchard, Logos, 19:00.5. 15, Kaden Schwartz, Highland, 19:07.2. 16, Naphtali David, Kootenai, 19:14.1.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Deary 27. 2, Prairie 61. 3, Logos 61. 4, Troy 70.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Megan Dye, Logos, 21:39.3. 2, Maisie McManus, Deary, 21:52.7. 3, Brooke Swanson, Deary, 23:07.8. 4, Kylie Tidwell, Prairie, 23:21.4. 5, Grace McInturff, Kootenai, 23:56.4. 6, Shelby Burnette, Deary, 24:04.7. 7, Leah Higgins, Prairie, 24:08.8. 8, Rachel Riley, Kootenai, 24:17.8. 9, Meara McManus, Deary, 24:24.4. 10, Keri Richmond, Troy, 24:25.2. 11, Raelyn Davis, Highland, 24:55.2.