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5A/4A REGION 1 CROSS COUNTRY: A special day for Vikings

| October 22, 2021 1:15 AM

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

ATHOL — Coeur d’Alene High cross country coach Cathy Compton had a feeling at the start of the year that her boys squad could be special.

And they were on Thursday.

Coeur d’Alene placed two runners in the top three with freshman Max Cervi-Skinner finishing second in 16 minutes, 31.7 seconds, followed by teammate Jacob King, a sophomore in 16:54.4 to breeze to the 5A Region 1 championship on Thursday at Farragut State Park.

“The boys have been working hard together,” Compton said. “And that’s the advantage we have right now. They’re true teammates and worked together as a unit. And that’s what builds championships. I think we’re going to see good things in the future with this group.”

Coeur d’Alene’s girls also claimed a regional title, edging two-time champion Post Falls 45-46 for the title.

“They knew they had their work cut out for them today,” Compton said. “I think they rose to the occasion and persevered. I know every team has had their challenges, and we had ours today, but the girls gave it their all.”

Post Falls junior Annastasia Peters won the girls race in 18:15.1. The Trojans' top runner, senior Sammie Wood missed regionals due to illness.

“It felt really good to win,” Peters said. “It was definitely different running without my teammate, which I always do. It was kind of nice racing for her, because that was something that she wasn’t able to do. It was a good day, and about accomplishing getting to state.”

Post Falls coach Brian Trefry said Wood, if healthy, is expected to compete at state next Friday at Eagle Island State Park.

“Sammie and Annastasia run together really well,” Trefry said. “With Sammie being out, Annastasia made it an amazing run and they’re really strong together. Sammie’s cleared to run at state, and we’re happy we’re going and she’ll be able to run.”

This season, Wood has claimed individual championships at the Farragut Invitational, Mountain West Classic in Missoula and Bellevue Invitational. Peters won at the Inland Empire Challenge in Lewiston on Oct. 9.

“We definitely push each other,” Peters said. “We’re not racing against each other by any means, but really just pushing each other and wanting to beat each other. We want each other to do their best and push each other to do the best they can, which is nice.”

“Hats off to Coeur d’Alene,” Trefry said. “They ran a real close race, with it coming down to one point, but this is in the past right now. Now we’re thinking about Eagle Island.”

Lake City senior Maximillian Bazler, Post Falls senior Gavin Calkins and senior Clara Stephens and freshman Hazel Kunkel of Lake City also qualified for state individually.

4A: Sidelined by illness earlier in the season, Lakeland junior Owen Elizondo-Bachiero wanted to come back and be better than he was before he was taken out of the lineup.

Well, he is.

Elizondo-Bachiero, who was in third through the first mile of the 4A boys race, finished seventh to qualify for the state 4A meet next Friday at Eagle Island State Park.

“I had to miss a few meets because I’d gotten COVID,” Elizondo-Bachiero said. “After that, I wanted to be right where I was, and it turned out I was better than when I was coming back.

Elizondo-Bachiero missed the Mountain West Classic (Sept. 18) and Ivan Benson Priest River Invitational (Sept. 21), returning at the Inland Empire Challenge on Oct. 9 in Lewiston.

“I just had to stick on the guy in front of me and pass him when I could,” Elizondo-Bachiero said. “I’m super excited to get to state.”

Sandpoint swept boys and girls regional titles for the ninth straight year.

5A

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene 24. 2, Lewiston 54. 3, Post Falls 73. 4, Lake City 75.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Kobe Wessels, Lewiston, 16:30. 2, Max Cervi-Skinner, Coeur d’Alene, 16:31.7. 3, Jacob King, Coeur d’Alene, 16:54.4. 4, Lachlan May, Coeur d’Alene, 16:56.7. 5, Zach Cervi-Skinner, Coeur d’Alene, 17:05.7. 6, Maximilian Bazler, Lake City, 17:19. 7, Gavin Calkins, Post Falls, 17:20.6. 8, James Stubbers, Lewiston, 17:24.8. 9, Elijah Sabo, Lewiston, 17:45.4. 10, Kyle Rollinger, Coeur d’Alene, 17:54.5.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Top two to state) — 1, Coeur d’Alene 45. 2, Post Falls 46. 3, Lake City 56. 4, Lewiston 81.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Annastasia Peters, Post Falls, 18:15.1. 2, Clara Stephens, Lake City, 19:43.4. 3, Kaylynn Misner, Post Falls, 20:10.2. 4, Hazel Kunkel, Lake City, 20:12.9. 5, Zara Munyer, Coeur d’Alene, 20:20.6. 6, Anne Marie Dance, Coeur d’Alene, 20:24.5. 7, Alahna Lien, Post Falls, 20:40.5. 8, Elliana Rietze, Coeur d’Alene, 20:46.

4A

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Winner advances to state, second team eligible for wild card) — 1, Sandpoint 26. 2, Moscow 34. 3, Lakeland 77.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Ben Ricks, Sandpoint, 17:02.8. 2, Emmett Brooks, Moscow, 17:10. 3, Trey Clark, Sandpoint, 17:24.2. 4, Nathan Roche, Sandpoint, 17:33.1. 5, Tristin O’Brien, Moscow, 17:36.5. 6, Slate Fragoso, Sandpoint, 17:36.8. 7, Owen Elizondo-Bachiero, Lakeland, 17:40.4.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Winner advances to state, second team eligible for wild card) — 1, Sandpoint 15. 2, Moscow 40. 3, Lakeland 83.

STATE QUALIFIERS — 1, Ara Clark, Sandpoint, 20:24.3. 2, Mackenzie Suhy-Gregoire, Sandpoint, 20:57.5. 3, Megan Oulman, Sandpoint, 20:58.1. 4, Payton Betz, Sandpoint, 21:18.9. 5, Grace Rookey, Sandpoint, 21:44.6. 6, Megan Heyns, Moscow, 22:06.2. 7, Indigo Wulfhorst, Moscow, 22:08.3.

photo

JASON ELLIOTT/Press Post Falls junior Annastasia Peters runs to the finish line of Thursday's 5A Region 1 meet at Farragut State Park. Peters won in 18 minutes, 15.1 seconds to lead the Trojans to a runner-up finish.