Gomez, Bartlett win titles

IDAHO FALLS – Kinsey Gomez accomplished what most girls only dream of doing.

The Coeur d’Alene Vikings freshman broke the 18-minute barrier en route to winning the 5A girls individual state cross country championship at Freeman Park Saturday.

Most boys can’t run under 18 minutes over a 5,000-meter course. Gomez ripped a 17:56.23, averaging 5:46.4 per mile.

“It was a hard race, but it was a pretty course,” Gomez said. “I trained and worked on every aspect I could this season. I ran hills, long distances, sprints and I did everything possible. My goal was to just place at state. Breaking 18 minutes was pretty amazing. I’m proud I gave it everything I had in the race.”

Sandpoint’s Megan Bartlett, second place last year, made short work of the competition by winning by 27 seconds for the 4A girls individual state championship in 18:29.90. The Bulldogs junior made winning a state championship her top priority this season.

“This is something I had my mind and heart set on all season, so this is what I worked for,” Bartlett said. “I wanted to go for first and a personal record, so I had my mind set on that. This means everything to me because since last year this is what I wanted to do.”

Another strong girls performance was registered by Bonners Ferry’s Melody Braden, who finished third in 3A at 19:51.67. Her team took second.

“I started out strong and put in a lot of miles this summer, but I wasn’t running strong at midseason,” Braden said. “Things improved and overall I placed better and had a better time this year than last year. We have two new girls who helped and everyone from last year stepped it up and we ran over the summer.”

Braden emphasized that running as a team helped Bonners Ferry take home the runner-up trophy. The Badgers have won a state girls trophy for the past six seasons.

Lake City had plenty to cheer about with two girls, Molly Mitchell and Rhianna Grossman, taking all-state honors at 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 5A race.

“We had a great year, but we weren’t deep enough,” Lake City coach Justin Taylor said. “We had two boys place second and third, John Coyle and C.J. Helbling. They had a strong year and ran tough. Both our girls and boys wanted it bad today. They all ran great this year and we are getting stronger every year and competing at state.”

In the 2A girls race Alyssa Kimm (12th) helped her Coeur d’Alene Charter School team win third place. The Panthers’ boys were also third at state behind Rory Ruskovich’s effort (ninth).