Timberlake’s Lagrimanta easily defends state title

LEWISTON – Defending State 3A cross country champion Frank Lagrimanta probably could have jogged and still pulled off a repeat Saturday afternoon.

So Lagrimanta, a senior at Timberlake, set an almost unachievable goal: He wanted to have the best time regardless of classification.

What made the goal largely unattainable is Lagrimanta had to run by himself. He didn’t have a half-dozen runners breathing down his neck like Taylor Farnsworth of 5A Highland.

Lagrimanta easily defended his state title, winning by 49 seconds as he finished the 3.1-mile course at Hells Gate State Park in 16 minutes, 1.64 seconds. Priest River senior Andrew Scott took second (16:50.87).

Farnsworth posted the fastest time (15:30.55).

“I’m pleased with my race,” said Lagrimanta, who had the fourth-best time overall. After Farnsworth, the next two fastest times were posted by other 5A runners.

“It may not mean I’m the fastest in Idaho, but I’m going to definitely try proving that at Footlocker,” Lagrimanta said.

Lagrimanta ran so hard he was in obvious pain afterward.

“I’ve never hurt this much,” Lagrimanta said. “I dogged it hard up those hills and I took it really fast down the hills. It’s hard to run against the clock when there’s nobody to push you.”

Lagrimanta earned even more respect from his coach Shawn Lawler Saturday – if that’s possible. Lagrimanta became just the sixth two-time state champ in 3A history.

“He said to me ‘Coach, I’ve got only one goal today: I’m going to hurt like I’ve never hurt before’,” Lawler said. “He wasn’t afraid to be aggressive even though he knew he was going to do it by himself. I think that says something about how special this young man is. It’s very rare that you get an athlete like this in your coaching career.”

Finishing a distant second to Lagrimanta was like winning a state title to Scott.

“It feels great,” Scott said. “If I’m going to lose to anybody I’d rather lose to Frank. I couldn’t quite get him, but I kept third and fourth off of me.”

Bonners Ferry’s girls, meanwhile, collected a fifth straight trophy, breaking a string of three consecutive third-place finishes. The Badgers took second with 100 points, well behind repeat champ Bear Lake (25).

To the Badgers, taking second was as good as winning a title.

“The girls knew what they were racing for was second,” BF coach Paul Bonnell said. “They pulled it off. Second could have been anybody’s race.”

Leading the Badgers’ push were junior Melody Braden and senior Casey Hampton. Braden took fourth (20:23.75) and Hampton was 11th (21:11.81).

Braden certainly wanted to finish higher, but she couldn’t get untracked in the start along the Snake River’s sandy beach.

“I was way back in the pack – about 25th,” Braden said of her start. “I gave up the first mile.”

But Braden started fighting back midway through. She plucked runners ahead of her one by one.

“I decided at the top of the (1,000-meter) hill to go for it,” Braden said. “My plan going into the race was to go as fast as I could the whole way. Whatever I had left I had left. I was hoping for top three. I ran really hard. I ran as hard as I could.”

In the 2A meet, Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy had a couple of medal winners and the Charter boys finished fourth, earning a trophy.

In the boys, junior Rory Ruskovich was 11th (17:41.55) and Alyssa Kimm, a freshman, was 15th (21:17.24) in the girls race.