Individual Races Best Hope For North Idaho’s Runners

North Idaho cross country runners will be racing for individual honors when the state meets are held Saturday at Idaho Falls.

No Panhandle team is expected to contend for team championships when the racing takes place at Pinecrest Municipal Golf Course.

The A-2 races will be held first, beginning with the girls at 10 a.m. PDT. The boys race will start about 30 minutes later.

The A-1 races will begin about 11, led by the girls.

Here’s a look at the two divisions.

A-1

Centennial’s Billy Herman is heavily favored to collect a hat trick.

Herman, a senior, is expected to be racing by himself as he goes for a third straight state title.

The race is for second. And it’s not out of the realm of possibility for a Panhandle runner to challenge for runner-up honors.

Sandpoint’s Kyle Delamarter, who captured the Region I championship last week, and Coeur d’Alene’s Chris Cole are candidates for second. So are B.J. Christensen of Minico and Brandon Briggs of Idaho Falls.

Centennial’s string of boys and girls state titles should come to an end. The Patriots boys have won four straight while the girls have won three of the last four years.

The team ready to unseat the Patriots is Boise. Lake City’s boys hope to place in the top six, as does Sandpoint.

In the girls race, Boise sophomore Susan Werner, like Herman, should defend her championship easily.

A-2

Preston, Jerome, Vallivue, Emmett and Moscow are expected to battle for team titles. Preston won both the boys and girls titles last year.

Moscow’s Tony Smith takes the fastest district time to state (16 minutes, 59 seconds). Smith finished sixth last year.

It’ll take a huge effort by Bonners Ferry’s Lany Dowell or Moscow’s Rachel Ferguson to catch favored Kelly Squibb of Vallivue. Squibb finished second last year and brings the top district time to state (19:59).

, DataTimes