Ferris Standouts Rule Farragut

Fall officially started at the Farragut Invitational on Saturday.

One record fell, one almost fell and more than a few runners fell.

The high school cross country invitational drew mixed reviews from the participants, ranging from Lewis and Clark coach Chris Morlan declaring his team’s love for the course to Gonzaga Prep coach Tony Maucione’s hatred of infamous Goat Hill, where his No. 4 runner somehow had both shoes fall off, forcing him to drop out of the race.

Goat Hill, a steep quarter-mile incline that ends around the 2-mile marker, stole the show as runners in all four races tried to conquer it.

“I’ve run this course before and it can be 4-wheel drive going up it as you use your hands and feet to climb,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said.

Varsity A boys

Isaac Hawkins of Ferris had no trouble with the hill and ran away with the title in a courserecord time of 15:58. Hawkins, the No. 1-ranked runner in the western half of the U.S., raced to a big lead and beat second-place Jim Rucker of G-Prep by 58 seconds.

“I’ve never run here before, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Hawkins said. “I just went out and ran my best to see how I could do.”

The team title went to Chewelah with 86 points. The Cougars were one of the smallest schools in the race, but edged Lewis and Clark by one point.

“We came into the race to see where we’re at as a team and things worked out well,” Chewelah coach Dan Stone said. “We returned all of our top six runners from last year which has helped a lot.”

Mead, ranked second in the nation, did not send its top seven runners in order to give them a rest for the Yakima Invitational next week. The Panthers still placed third with what was, essentially their junior varsity team.

The top North Idaho team was Lake City, which placed 10th with 233 points.

Varsity A girls

Ferris dominated by placing the top three individual runners, led by Jennifer Smith’s time of 19:19, second-fastest in race history.

“This is a very exciting race,” Smith said. “I trained up in the hills by Priest Lake, so I was comfortable here.”

The Saxons’ team score was 46 points and included Emily Hawkins’ second and Jill Johnson’s third. Johnson, however, was among the runners to take a spill on Goat Hill.

Lewis and Clark placed second with 62 points.

Sandpoint finished sixth to lead North Idaho teams. Coach Cheryl Klein was happy with how the Bulldogs competed against the Washington schools.

“Our girls were composed, confident and strong at the finish,” Klein said.

Varsity B boys

With Chewelah chasing the A title, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) ran away with the B crown. The Eagles used strong pack running to beat Riverside, which had the individual champion in Jon Ashcroft.

“We came in thinking we had a great chance because Chewelah was running in the A race,” Lakeside coach Matt Sullivan said. “Big meets like this are fun and we use them as a practice for regionals.”

Ashcroft ran the course in 17:15. Riverside teammate Bill Warner was fourth, but Lakeside’s top five were quicker to the line.

Bonners Ferry placed fourth after thinking they had won the race when the first set of results incorrectly had the Badgers in first.

“This is really a tough race because if you run the hill wrong, you’re out of contention,” Badgers coach Harry O’Dell said.

Varsity B girls

Freshman Crystal Evans of Colville won in 20:36 in her first race at Farragut.

Moscow’s Yvonne Shea was in the lead at the top of the hill, but Evans ran hard on the way down and won by 14 seconds.

Riverside won the title with 71 points. The Rams had no runners in the top 10, but placed all five scoring runners in the top 20. Bonners Ferry placed sixth.