EV Strides Toward Another State Title Victory At Farragut Usually Means Knights Will Go On To Capture Big Prize

For the East Valley High School girls cross country team, the Farragut Invitational and state championships seem to go hand in hand.

The Knights have won state titles the past three years, and two of those seasons they were victorious at Farragut State Park.

East Valley put its apparent motto - the team is greater than the individual - to the test again Saturday afternoon, and the Knights easily captured the A division championship.

Does that mean a fourth straight state crown is on the horizon? Probably. At least seniors Ann Marie Adams and Cara Smith, key contributors since they were freshmen when the string started, hope so.

Saturday, though, they talked about saying goodbye to a good friend - the Farragut Invitational.

“This is one of my favorite races because our team feeds off of hills,” said Adams, who finished seventh, and second on the team behind freshman Melanie Frostad (fourth).

EV posted 51 points, Flathead of Kalispell (Mont.) was second with 79, Centennial of Meridian (Idaho) was third with 93 and Lewis and Clark took fourth with 98.

Appropriately, Adams and Smith are EV’s captains this season.

They both agreed that a fourth state title will be challenging. The Knights’ stiffest competition appears to be west of the Cascades with Newport of Bellevue. Newport edged EV at the Shoreline Invitational two weeks ago.

EV placed five runners in the top 16 Saturday. Sophomore Amber Arvidson of Flathead took individual honors, beating Sarah Doty of Capital (Boise) by half a second in 20 minutes, 3 seconds on the challenging 3.1-mile course.

Carly Barnes of Gonzaga Prep was the highest Spokane-area placer, finishing third (20:23.05).

No winning team in the two-meets-in-one Farragut race had an individual champion.

Speedy Flathead placed five in the top 13 to claim the A boys team title with 47 points. Lewis and Clark was second with 71, Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, Wash., was third with 90.

Leading a sprint to the end was Tyler Williams of Centennial, who finished in a winning time of 16:34.98, just ahead of Tom Becker of Mt. Spokane (16:39). Jim Marlow of EV was third (16:39.21).

The B boys and girls races were equally competitive and entertaining.

Bonners Ferry’s boys won for the first time at Farragut, posting 50 points.

St. George’s of Spokane was well back with 95 points. Grangeville, of central Idaho, fielding its first team, was third with 113. Chewelah was fourth (117).

Senior Desmond Hollopeter of Grangeville took the B boys individual title, finishing in 17:31.06, about five seconds ahead of Neil Small of Chewelah. Josh Sherven led Bonners Ferry by taking third (17:39.52).

Junior Greta Johnson of Potlatch, a tiny town just north of Moscow, Idaho, captured the State A-3 title last fall at Farragut.

She picked up where she left off by taking the B girls race in a time of 20:42.25. Trailing freshman Amy Larson of Orofino for half the race, Johnson claimed the lead at the top of the course’s signature feature - the goat hill, a steep, 150-meter grade that often reduces runners to crawling.

Newport (61) edged rival Riverside (71) for the B girls team championship. St. George’s was third (85) and Chewelah fourth (103).

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