For the week of October 1 - 7, 2003

Firman meet a
highlight for thinclads

Cross country in Boise

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Wood River High School cross country runners lined up alongside a total 1,300 Gem State athletes Saturday for the 29th annual Bob Firman Invitational at Boise’s Eagle Island State Park—site of this year’s state run.

Coaches James Foster and Joel Zellers took 35 Wolverines to the meet, named for the former Borah High School cross-country coach. It was a very warm day for a run on the 5-kilometer (3.1 mile course).

The Wood River varsity boys (208 points) placed fifth of 20 schools behind team winner Firth (55 points) in the Division 2 footrace for 3A, 2A and 1A runners. Senior Alex Hamlin led the way in 25th place of 147 runners. Freshman Taylor Sundali was the fastest ninth-grader in the varsity race.

Next, Wood River runs at the Twin Falls Classic Thursday, Oct. 2 at Canyon Springs GC in Twin Falls. Hailey results follow from the Firman:

Division 2 varsity boys: 25—Alex Hamlin 18:32. 34—Jackson Harris 18:55. 39—Taylor Sundali 19:09. 52—David Vanderpool 19:24. 88—Chris LeBlanc 20:46. 90—Lucas Pletcher 20:50. 97—Dale Reese 21:25 (147 runners).

Boys’ varsity team: 1—Firth 55. 3—Wood River 208 (20 teams).

Division 2 varsity girls: 56—Lindsay Niedrich 24:09. 58—Tess Dahlgren 24:23. 80—Courtney Perry 25:50. 85—Maddie Thies 26:07. 87—Jenni Borda 26:11. 98—Jennifer Spinelli 26:55. 109—Amanda Moulton 27:58 (128 runners). Junior varsity: 68—Dawn Bird 27:40 (114 runners).

Girls varsity team: 12—Wood River 75 (18 teams).

Boys’ junior varsity: 74—David Kunz 20:47. 80—Cooper Lee 20:54. 82—Joseph Zeman 20:56. 118—Kyle Niedrich 21:42. 131—Josh Flade 22:04. 151—Nick Purdy 22:34. 185—Kurtis Fieguth 23:53. 203—Robbie Hamlin 24:42. 219—David Risci 26:16. 226—Josh Thornton 27:10 (237 runners).

Boys’ JV team: 15—Wood River 387 (22 schools).

Ninth-grade boys: 10—Conor Davis 20:24, 1:09 behind. 36—Cole Wells 22:19. 43—Bryce Moulton 22:46. 44—Ted Elgee 22:54. 48—Zach Thornton 23:28. 54—Jack VanPaepeghem 23:38 (73 runners). Ninth-grade team: 6—Wood River 118 points (7 teams).

Ninth-grade girls: 27—Georgia Thies 28:19. 32—Lauren Phillips 29:47. 33—Amy Loudenslager 31:09. 36—Melissa Fischman 32:12 (40 runners).

At the Declo meet

The Wood River runners tuned up for the Firman by competing at the Declo Invitational Sept. 25 on the Albion course to be used for the Fourth District 3A meet Oct. 23.

Lindsay Niedrich cracked the top ten with a seventh-place finish in the girls’ race and Chris LeBlanc led the Hailey boys in 15th place overall.

Coach Foster said, "The boys finished fifth of seven teams and the girls were third of five.

"The girls continue to drop their times and we are optimistic that they will be able to compete for the district title. Once everyone is healthy it is going to be a difficult group to beat.

"Lindsay Niedrich and Tess Dahlgren continue to lead the way. Maddie Thies is running faster with each race."

Foster said, "We were missing a few boys at Declo due to Environmental Camp, sickness and a few aches and pains. Some of the younger runners stepped in and ran their fastest times of the year. Cooper Lee and Joe Zeman had great races."

Here are Wood River’s results:

Varsity girls at Declo: 7—Lindsay Niedrich 23:55. 12—Tess Dahlgren 24:54. 14—Maddie Thies 24:59. 19—Jennifer Spinelli 26:41. 21—Jenni Borda 27:04. 23—Amanda Moulton 27:31. 27—Nini Casser 28:37. 28—Chelsea Vanderpool 28:44. 30—Georgia Thies 30:09. 34—Lauren Phillips 31:27. 36—Amy Loudenslager 31:51.

Varsity boys at Declo: 15—Chris LeBlanc 19:59. 30—Dale Reese 21:22. 34—Cooper Lee 21:46. 35—Joseph Zeman 21:51. 37—Robbie Hamlin 21:55 and Nick Purdy 21:55. 42—Kyle Niedrich 22:16. 45—Conor Davis 22:34. 51—Bryce Moulton 23:22. 53—Cole Wells 23:30. 57—Zach Thornton 24:07. 60—Kurtis Fieguth 24:10. 62—Jack VanPaepeghem 24:52. 71—Josh Thornton 25:16.

 

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