PREP CROSS COUNTRY: On course at The Course ... Locals fine tune at relocated Firman Invitational

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

SPOKANE VALLEY — It’s as close to a measuring stick a team can find this close to home these days.

Can you contend for a state championship? A coach can see just how here.

Others, their minds might be on the national stage, and what happens next.

Through the first three kilometers of Saturday’s 5K boys elite race of the 49th annual Nike Bob Firman Invitational at The Course, Coeur d’Alene junior Wyatt Morgenstern found himself leading with a split of 8:41.7.

“We were just trying to stay back and chill during the first half of the race,” Morgenstern said. “I saw after the 2K, I was right near the front. I wasn’t trying to push toward the front, but I saw an opening and pushed through it. Once I got up there, I thought I might have been going too hard, but didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to see if I could push and string the pack out a little bit.”

Morgenstern finished third in 14:30.4 for the Vikings, who took second in the boys elite team division with 128 points. Summit High of Bend, Ore., won the title with 64 points.

Summit is the top-ranked team in the Northwest, according to rankings by RunnerSpace.com. Coeur d’Alene is fourth.

“We’ve been working on a lot of stuff as a team, and it’s a good showing of what we’re working toward,” Morgenstern said. “This is a good showing of where we are going to be at for NXR (Nike Northwest Regionals). We’ll have to work to get the pack closer together, but I think we’ll be fine for that.”

Morgenstern came in 2.4 seconds behind the winner, Yosuke Shibata of South Eugene (Ore.). Coeur d'Alene's Rowan Henry finished 24th, teammate Wyatt Carr 29th.

The meet had previously been held at Eagle Island State Park before moving to The Course in Spokane Valley, which opened in November 2025, starting this year.

Coeur d’Alene's boys were 18th out of 37 teams in the Woodbridge Invitational last Saturday in Irvine, Calif.

“It does a ton for Wyatt and for our team,” Coeur d’Alene coach Emry Carr said. “Coming off a disastrous meet at Woodbridge, we needed to make some adjustments, and they did. We ran really well as a team. I’m super happy and proud of Wyatt Morgenstern, and how he ran today. But it was just as important to run well as a team.”

Timberlake senior Lola Eggleston was 14th in the girls elite race in 17:49.6, a personal best.

“The lactate in my legs just hit me in that final stretch,” Eggleston said. “It was just, oh my gosh. I did PR, but it was really hard. I wish I would have placed higher than I did, but I’m so proud of how I did.”

Eggleston won the Timberlake Farragut Invitational two weeks ago, and finished fifth in 17:51.6 at The Mook Invitational last weekend in Tillamook, Ore.

“At the end of last season, I was kind of dancing around with the idea of breaking 18 minutes,” Eggleston said. “I had a rough situation around springtime where I just wasn’t healthy and wanted to redeem myself. And that’s been the idea around the cross country season and to show myself mainly what I could do. And it’s been amazing this season and I’m really happy I’m healthy again.”

At first, Eggleston didn’t think she belonged with the elite group.

“When (Timberlake coach Shawn) Lawler put me in the elite race, I really didn't think I’m there yet,” Eggleston said. “And then how well I did and being the first girl to break 18 minutes at Timberlake, and it surprised both me and Lawler, it really gave me some confidence and redefined my purpose for why I run, and for this sport.”

Timberlake seniors Caleb Royce (third in 15:56) and Jonathan Barnhart (fourth in 16:00.6) helped lead the Tigers to the Division II championship with 60 points. Freeman of Rockford, Wash., was second with 99 points. Defending Idaho state 4A champion Sugar-Salem was third with 114.

“We’re in a good place right now,” Lawler said. “We’ve had several good weeks of training after traveling to Tillamook (Ore.) last week, coming back. Maybe a bit fatigued when they came back going into today. After some really quality workouts earlier this week, they showed some toughness today.”

“We knew the great competition was going to be here,” Lawler said. “Sugar-Salem, we knew they weren’t going to be at full strength with their No. 1 and No. 3 runner out with injuries, so we wanted to see where we’re at with them head-to-head, and we got good indicators today.”

Junior Joseph Sateren was 12th and sophomore Eli Royce 15th also placed in the top 20 for Timberlake’s boys.

“We’re pretty happy with that,” Lawler said. “The top 20 get Nike backpacks and we had this goal-setting session yesterday, and it was how many guys can get backpacks. The goal was five, but four guys walking the halls of Timberlake High with Nike backpacks is pretty exciting. The guys had a great day.”

BOYS

BOYS ELITE — 1, Yosuke Shibata, South Eugene, 14:28. 3, Wyatt Morgenstern, Coeur d’Alene, 14:30.4. 24, Rowan Henry, Coeur d’Alene, 15:06.6. 29, Wyatt Carr, Coeur d’Alene, 15:18.8. 35, Blaise Howard, Coeur d’Alene, 15:24.1. 39, Kai Budensiek, Sandpoint, 15:27. 56, Gabriel Heule, Coeur d’Alene, 15:39.3. 65, Hobbes Conley, Sandpoint, 15:44.8. 114, Jack Lovin, Sandpoint, 16:11.3. 116, Landon Thor Connor, Sandpoint, 16:12.4. 125, Cy Marshall, Sandpoint, 16:14.5. 127, Cody Morgenstern, Coeur d’Alene, 16:14.8. 137, Samuel Reade, Lake City, 16:20.9. 146, Will Wood, Coeur d’Alene, 16:25.6. 177, Wyatt Lemon, Sandpoint, 16:36.7. 230, Riley Shadel, Sandpoint, 17:15.2. 

VARSITY DIVISION I SECTION 1 A-L (Winner, locals) — 1, Caleb Fitts, Ephrata, 15:36.7. 13, Parker Sterling, Lakeland, 16:25.4. 22, Frank McCarthy, Lakeland, 16:34.6. 25, Finn Scarborough, Coeur d’Alene, 16:41.3. 30, Noah Garrido, Coeur d’Alene, 16:54.5. 36, Emmett McLachlan, Coeur d’Alene, 17:03.3. 38, Andrew Grady, Coeur d’Alene, 17:04.5. 46, Kilen Keon, Lake City, 17:12.6. 47, Ryan Gonzales, Coeur d’Alene, 17:13.7. 57, Tristan Alvarez, Lake City, 17:21.9. 69, Wyatt Matous, Coeur d’Alene, 17:39.2. 87, Noah Childress, Lake City, 17:54.4. 91, Sebastian Lien, Coeur d’Alene, 17:58.6. 129, Evan Horan, Lake City, 18;56.9. 132, Owen Morrow, Lake City, 19:00.1. 136, Blake Anderson, Lake City, 19:10.7. 142, August Anderson, Lake City, 19:30.6. 

VARSITY DIVISION 1 SECTION 2 M-Z (Winner, locals) —1, Thane Winters, Tahoma, 15:54.1. 55, Jackson Collins, Post Falls, 17:09.3. 73, Trace Evans, Sandpoint, 17:18.7. 99, Parker Enna, Sandpoint, 17:36.4. 124, Roan Luikens, Sandpoint, 17:57.4. 134, Peter Lamb, Sandpoint, 18:07.6. 143, Thomas Esposito, Sandpoint, 18:22.2. 155, Josiah Wells, Sandpoint, 18:35.2. 159, Brysen Hunter, Post Falls, 18:43.2. 166, Isaac Richard, Post Falls, 18:57.3. 171, Carrson Peterson, Post Falls, 19:04.2. 178, Daniel Fuqua, Post Falls, 19:16.3. 

VARSITY DIVISION II (Winner, locals) — 1, Waylon Stoneburg-Schafer, Cle Elum-Roslyn, 15:27.6. 3, Caleb Royce, Timberlake, 15:56. 4, Jonathan Barnhart, Timberlake, 16:00.6. 12, Joseph Sateren, Timberlake, 16:20.4. 15, Eli Royce, Timberlake, 16:25.9. 31, Christopher Perry, Timberlake, 17:09.5. 33, Cameron Barnhart, Timberlake, 17:12.7. 51, Daniel Gunkle, Priest River, 17:50.5. 80, Seth Paschtag, Priest River, 18:44.1. 99, Trevor Chase, Cd’A Charter, 19:23.4. 105, James Wold, Bonners Ferry, 19:45.2. 109, Brock Tuma, Bonners Ferry, 19:52. 114, Logan Gerhauser, Cd’A Charter, 20:00.9. 115, Tadhg Conor McLaimtaig, Priest River, 20:01.4. 133, Maxwell Hewitt, Priest River, 21:00.9. 

GIRLS 

GIRLS ELITE (Winner, locals) — 1, Morgan Delaney, Polson, 17:11.2. 14, Lola Eggleston, Timberlake, 17:49.6. 19, Anna Christman, Coeur d’Alene, 18:05.4. 48, Victoria Howard, Coeur d’Alene, 18:46:6. 52, Jordyn Coy, Coeur d’Alene, 18:49.2. 95, Brooklyn Caywood, Coeur d’Alene, 19:17.4. 141, Delaney Barron, Sandpoint, 19:54.9. 153, Olivia Betz, Sandpoint, 20:06.4. 168, Ruthie Laughridge, Sandpoint, 20:20.5. 173, Elizabeth Storms, Sandpoint, 20:30.182, Charli Hall, Sandpoint, 20:39.7. 185, Sophie Brubaker, Sandpoint, 20:43.4. 199, Kat Baker, Coeur d’Alene, 21:14.1. 214, Sienna Szabo, Sandpoint, 21:39.5. 227, Grace Callahan, Coeur d’Alene, 22:46. 231. Chloe Crum, Bonners Ferry, 23:48.1. 232, Kya Alderman, Bonners Ferry, 23:57.9. 233, Hailey Reeves, Bonners Ferry, 25:46.6. 234, Abigail Huggins, Bonners Ferry, 25:59.8. 235, Cheyenne Schutte, Bonners Ferry, 27:45.9.

VARSITY DIVISION I A-L (Winner, locals)  — 1, Zophie Hopkins, Eisenhower, 19:00.1. 6, Madison Zimmerman, Lake City, 19:38.3. 22, Maddison Chapple, Lakeland, 20:13.6. 25, Bridget Hunter, Lake City, 20:21.7. 33, Galen Dyk, Lakeland, 20:48.6. 38, Annie Mattila, Lakeland, 21:34. 47, Piper Peterson, Lakeland, 21:42.2. 51, Violet Hernandez, Lake City, 21:52. 56, Bristol Burnside, Lakeland, 22:00.2. 67, Kyeleigh Anaya, Lake City, 22:38.6. 79, Keyleigh Anaya, Lake City, 23:07.4. 88, Macie Zimmerman, Lake City, 23:40.6. 92, Savannah O’Hara, Lakeland, 24:02.6. 93, Michaela Rayner, Lake City, 24:07.4. 97, Georgia Benson, Coeur d’Alene, 24:33.8. 103, Eva Berzoza, Coeur d’Alene, 24:57.9. 119, Evie Taft, Coeur d’Alene, 27:43.8.

VARSITY DIVISION I M-Z (Winner, locals)  — 1, Abigail Finley, Skyridge, 18:36.9. 15, Dorothy Pope, Post Falls, 19:40.7. 19, Ainsley Parker, Post Falls, 19:49.6. 30, Kaitlyn Martin, Post Falls, 20:19. 62, Lillian Grant, Sandpoint, 20:59.7. 112, Kamilah Luna, Post Falls, 22:23.4. 120, Emily Taylor, 22:41.1. 

VARSITY DIVISION II (Winner, locals) — 1, Audrey Santman, Freeman, 19:01.5. 13, Emily Wright, Timberlake, 20:35.5. 14, Kayla Hyle, Timberlake, 20:38.2. 53, Camas Horsmon, Cd’A Charter, 22:55.1. 54, Aleigha Persyn, Timberlake, 22:59. 80, Trinity Robinson, Timberlake, 24:20.4. 82, Ailish McLaimtaig, Priest River, 24:22.3. 86, Delainey Wenstrom, Timberlake, 24:32.5. 89, Abagail Shaulis, Priest River, 24:44.3. 96, Emi Weber, Cd’A Charter, 25:16.8. 102, Lydia Paterson, Priest River, 25:42.5. 104, Juliana Sartell, Bonners Ferry, 245:49.8. 105, Alannah McLaimtaig, Priest River, 25:50.4. 106, Delia Bodnar, Cd’A Charter, 25:51.8. 107, Amelia Frengle, Cd’A Charter, 25:52.3. 117, Maiyu Smith, Priest River, 26:33.9. 118, Kinzie Bradley, Bonners Ferry, 26:39. 121, Molly Schaller, Cd’A Charter, 27:19.6. 122, Sakura Smith, Priest River, 27:26.4. 123, Breelyn Duran, Priest River, 27:37.8. 125, Emma Harrington, Timberlake, 27:41.5. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Timberlake senior Lola Eggleston comes across the finish line in the girls elite race of the 49th annual Nike Bob Firman Invitational at The Course in Spokane Valley on Saturday.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene junior Rowan Henry (front), Aaron Pooler of Mead and Coeur d'Alene senior Wyatt Carr reach the halfway point of the boys elite race at the 49th annual Nike Bob Firman Invitational at The Course in Spokane Valley.
  

    Courtesy photo The Timberlake boys cross country team won the Division II varsity race at the 49th annual Nike Bob Firman Invitational at The Course in Spokane Valley on Saturday. Pictured from left are coach Shawn Lawler, Cameron Barnhart, Eli Royce, Jonathan Barnhart, Caleb Royce, Joseph Sateren, Chris Perry and coach Stacie Lawler.