Stone finishes third in state
LEWISTON – The expression on the face of Anna Stone as she turned the corner for the final 50 meters in the State 5A girls cross country meet told it all Saturday morning.
Ahead by 20 meters halfway through the 3.1-mile race, the Coeur d’Alene High senior watched her lead evaporate as her swollen throat had difficulty filtering the dust churned up because of the sandy trails from the air.
Stone had a look of resignation as she finished third for the second year. Borah teammates Karleigh Gempler and Nicole Nielsen took first and second, respectively, under sun-kissed skies at Hells Gate State Park.
The Borah runners caught Stone just after a steep downhill before the final 400 meters. Gempler finished in a time of 18 minutes, 27.5 seconds while Stone posted 18:39.74, about 11 seconds faster than her winning time on the same course at the Region I meet a week earlier.
“I just was taking it hard and holding it as long as I could,” Stone said of her strategy.
Stone came into the final meet ranked No. 1 in the state and the slight prerace favorite.
“My throat was swollen and I had a cold. That’s not an excuse, but I didn’t feel great,” Stone said. “I’m disappointed. I wanted to win, but I raced as hard as I could.”
Whatever chance Stone had of holding off the Borah duo faded quickly when they passed her.
“It was sort of a mental thing when they passed me,” Stone said. “I was dying. I didn’t have anything left.”
Stone figures she came down with the cold while making a visit to the University of San Francisco last weekend following the Region I meet.
“I didn’t sleep very much (on the trip),” Stone said. “It probably wasn’t very smart to do it last weekend.”
CdA coach Cathy Compton praised Stone, who was sixth as a sophomore before her back-to-back thirds.
“Obviously she’s going to be disappointed. She really wanted it,” Compton said. “You wonder a lot of things. You can never second guess what happens. You can’t turn back the clock now. She gave it everything she had. You can’t what-if it.”
Post Falls sophomore Angie Whalen, who was ranked as high as first this year, dropped out of the race at the 2-mile mark with what was believed to be respiratory problems.
In the boys race, Highland senior Taylor Farnsworth ran away from the field early, and he was never caught.
Farnsworth finished in a sizzling 15:30.55 on the hilly course, 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Nick Bolinder of Boise. The highest finisher from the area was freshman C.J. Helbling of Lake City. Helbling took 10th (16:45.82).
CdA senior Michael Armon, the state champ as a sophomore before missing his junior year because of a major knee injury, was 15th (16:51.2).
LC’s boys took fourth, earning a trophy. The Timberwolves had 136 points, well behind winner Mountain View (56). Borah (63) was second and defending champ Boise (81) third.
LC coach Justin Taylor had no complaints.
“We set our goal high, but I’m very pleased with fourth,” Taylor said. “Better would have been great, but our goal was a trophy. It was a very strong year in cross country statewide.”
Boise’s girls easily defended their title, posting 46 points. Eagle (79) was second and Twin Falls (102) third.