Area athletes to run for glory
Oct. 29—Today, almost 1,000 high school runners will converge on the Lewis-Clark State College Cross Country Trail to determine 10 individual and team state champions in cross country.
For the Logos girls, they already know how it feels to hold up the state championship trophy. The Knights of Moscow edged out Raft River to win their first Class 1A team title in 2021 at Eagle Island State Park in Eagle, Idaho. Returning runner Sara Casebolt led the way for Logos with a fifth-place finish in that race with a time of 19 minutes, 59.88 seconds.
The girls will look to defend their title at 1:30 p.m., and the boys compete at 3 p.m. in the final meet of the day.
"Having a win under our belt has taken some of the pressure off this year," sixth-year Logos coach Paula Casebolt said. "Looking forward to be going out there being defending state champs."
The boys also fared well last year, finishing fourth. Zach Atwood just missed a top-10 finish with a time of 17:27.82 to take 11th. Atwood gets a chance to improve that on a familiar course.
"The thing with Zach and Sara, they are both super disciplined," Paula Casebolt said. "They are always thinking 'How can I make my form better'."
Logos dominated the district meet Oct. 19 at the same course.
Casebolt (19:17) cut 42 seconds off last year's state time to win the individual title, beating teammate Mari Calene by 56 seconds. The Knights took seven of the top nine places. Deary's Kaylee and Araya Wood took fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Logos boys took three of the top four spots at the district meet. Atwood (17:23) took the individual title ahead of teammate Simeon Rauch (17:54), with Bear Lopez in fourth (18:30). Clearwater Valley's Wyatt Anderberg ran an 18:13 to place third.
Atwood ran a blistering 16:43 at the LCSC course Oct. 1 during the Inland Empire Championships. Casebolt also ran her best 5K time of the season in that race at 19:16.
"The kids are super familiar with this course," Paula Casebolt said of her team's impending fourth event at LCSC.
Paula Casebolt said running at a course close to home has advantages and disadvantages.
"Being on a course that we love and sleeping in our own beds," Paula Casebolt said of the upside. "The downside I think, a little bit, when you travel there is a lot of team bonding going on. We are trying to recreate that this week."
The coach said they would have a team dinner after Friday's walkthrough of the course. She talked about the importance of the walkthrough, although they had run the course so many times. She also said runners have to have a different mentality at this point compared to the other meets during the season, saying that most of the season runners are focused on having "super-fast" times and finding what pacing they have.
"In (the) state (meet), it is all about place," Paula Casebolt said. "It always tends to be a really fast race."
Potlatch also qualified its two teams, and Prairie's boys and Deary's girls also will compete as teams.
Moscow qualified its two teams to the Class 4A meet. The girls start at 10 a.m. with the boys scheduled to begin around 90 minutes later.
Cora Crawford led the girls during the Oct. 20 meet at the same course, finishing second at 19:15.23 as the Bears won their first team title in 12 years.
Kieran Long and Jason Swam had top-five finishes on the boys side.
Lewiston will have one runner competing in James Stubbers in the boys event, which takes place at noon. Stubbers finished seventh with a 16:44.09 at the Oct. 20 district meet.
Grangeville will have three boys and two girls running in the Class 2A races. The girls compete at 11 a.m. and boys run at 12:30 p.m.
Ryan Detweiler (17:39), AJ Rose (17:43) and Simeon Sanchez (17:44) finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the district meet Oct. 20 at Pinehurst Golf Course in Pinehurst, Idaho.
Kylie Rasmussen ran a 21:51 to finish second in the girls competition.
Isbelle can be reached at sports@lmtribune.com, (208) 848-2268 or on Twitter @RandyIsbelle.
State meet schedule
All events at Lewis-Clark State Cross Country Trail
10 a.m. — Class 4A girls; 10:30 a.m. — Class 5A girls; 11 a.m. — Class 2A girls; 11:30 a.m. — Class 4A boys; Noon — Class 5A girls; 12:30 p.m. — Class 2A boys; 1 p.m. — Class 3A girls; 1:30 p.m. — Class 1A girls; 2 p.m. — Class 3A boys; 2:30 p.m. — Class 1A boys.
Area competitors
CLASS 5A
Lewiston boys — James Stubbers.
CLASS 4A
Moscow — Levi Beus (boys), Noah Bujnicki (boys), Cora Crawford (girls), Christine Hall (girls), Mia Heinlein (girls), Sayer Latta (boys), Noah Lingo (boys), Kelton Long (boys), Kieran Long (boys), Anna Lynn (girls), Geneva McClory (girls), Lauren Pollard (girls), Jason Swam (boys), Indigo Wulfhorst (girls).
CLASS 2A
Grangeville — Ryan Detweiler (boys), Kacee Evans (girls), Kylie Rasmussen (girls), AJ Rose (boys), Simeon Sanchez (boys).
CLASS 1A
Clearwater Valley — Wyatt Anderberg (boys), Dayton Mitzkis (boys), Evelyn Ward (girls).
Deary girls — Macie Ashmead, Gracie Beck, Emily Mottern, Emily Scott, Araya Wood, Kaylee Wood.
Genesee boys — Ben Farr.
Kamiah boys — Charlee Denmark.
Logos — Zach Atwood (boys), Alyssa Blum (girls), Ethan Bremer (boys), Mari Calene (girls), Sara Casebolt (girls), Lizzie Crawford (girls), David Daniels (boys), Chloe Jankovic (girls), Cora Johnson (girls), Bear Lopez (boys), Clive Miller (boys), Simeon Rauch (boys), Bo Whitling (boys), Josephine Wyrick (girls).
Nezperce boys — Tristan Currall, Blayne Mosman.
Potlatch — Jessica Biltonen (girls), Rebecca Cerutti (girls), Caleb Laprath (boys), India Luker (girls), Marius Luker (boys), Colton Minden (boys), Wisteria Mulford (girls), Jonas Oliver (boys), Jude Oliver (boys), Micah Smith (boys), Tanner Smith (boys), Britton Tunnell (girls), Lucy Tunnell (girls), Victoria Weber (girls).
Prairie boys — Jackson Enneking, Dylan Klapprich, Morgan Poxleitner, Landon Riener, Ben Secrest, Zane Uptmor, Chase VonBargen.
Troy boys — Noah Johnson.
