Idaho State Meet

Green, Geddes Defend 5A (boys), 4A (girls) Titles in Idaho

By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

POCATELLO, Idaho -- Borah junior Nathan Green and Twin Falls senior Mattalyn Geddes added another individual gold medal to their collections Saturday at Idaho’s state cross country championships at Portneuf Wellness Complex.

Green finished in 15:13.97 — the fastest boys time of the day — to become Idaho's first repeat 5A boys individual champion since Highland's Dallin Farnsworth won his second title in a row in 2011. It was Green's first time racing on the course, which became a state meet venue in 2016.

“I liked it,” Green said. “It has a great balance of hills and flat.”

Saturday was the fourth meet of the season for Green, who did not race or practice for two weeks following a health scare Sept. 21 at the annual Bob Firman Invitational. Green did not finish Bob Firman and was taken to the hospital for a couple hours the same day. His stress tests revealed no problems and he said doctors are still trying to determine what happened to him. He ran Saturday’s race with a heart monitor under his jersey.

He said he is feeling good and plans to run at NXR Northwest on Nov. 16 at Eagle Island State Park. Green placed 18th at NXN last year.

“I feel stronger than ever,” Green said. “I’m just gonna keep doing what I do best and that’s competing against amazing runners.”

Geddes ran the fastest girls time of the day, 17:30.09, later in the afternoon to became the first girl to win three consecutive Idaho 4A individual titles. She joins 2012 Bishop Kelly graduate Emily Nist as the only girls to win three 4A individual titles in a career.

“It went pretty close to plan,” Geddes said of her race strategy. “My first mile was faster than I expected it to be.”

Like Green, Geddes plans to race at NXR Northwest. She finished ninth at NXN last year and was the top Northwest girls finisher.

“I think I’ll take a few days off (this week), but we’ll see,” Geddes said.

Eagle junior Lizzie Dildine won the 5A girls race in a personal best 17:42.16 to claim the first individual state cross country title of her career and led Eagle to three top-20 finishes and the third-place trophy.

Mountain View senior Lexy Halladay, who entered Saturday as three-time defending individual champion, led the race early before getting passed and ultimately finishing 15th in 18:43.71. She told the Idaho Press afterwards that it was not a good race for her and her legs weren’t responding when she tried to pick up the pace. She added that she will race at NXR Northwest.

Boise, No. 12 in the Oct. 24 national girls team rankings, repeated as 5A girls champions with 44 points to win the 10th title in program history. Boise’s top five of Rosina Machu, Mikella Tobin, Jamie Hamlin, Molly Elliott and Annika Zuschlag all finished in the top 16. The boys team title came down to a tiebreaker between Timberline and Meridian with identical scores of 84. The tiebreaker went to Timberline due to its sixth runner, Carter Steinmetz, finishing one place ahead of Meridian’s sixth runner, Luke Simpson, giving the Wolves a program-first state title and snapping Rocky Mountain’s three-year title streak.

History was made in 4A as Idaho Falls swept the boys and girls titles to become the first team from their district to complete a team title sweep at the 4A level. Junior Zac Bright won the boys race in 15:23.3 to become Idaho Falls’ first individual boys state champion since Adam Follett in 2003 and led the Idaho Falls boys to their third title in a row with 54 points.

Led by sophomore Hannah Kohler, four of Idaho Falls’ top five runners finished in the top 18 to lead the Tigers to their program-first girls title and an 18-point margin over defending champion Bishop Kelly. The state sweep occurred a week after sweeping district titles for the first time in 21 years, including a perfect score on the boys side. This is Idaho Falls’ final year in 4A before moving to 5A for the 2020-21 school year. In four years at 4A, the Tigers claimed six cross country trophies.

"We definitely had to manage some emotions," Idaho Falls coach Alan McMurtrey said. “There was a lot on the line. I think everybody knew the gravity of the situation. They had some confidence in each other, which takes some pressure off. Belief in each other helped."

Another eastern Idaho program, Sugar-Salem, added to its dominating run in 3A by sweeping the team titles for the third year in a row. After placing second as a sophomore and junior, senior Sarenady Price won the girls race in 19:29.1 to become Sugar-Salem’s first girls individual state champion since Olivia Redd in 2013 and the Diggers’ top five runners to finished in the top nine. The boys, who won with 36 points, furthermore made history by becoming the first Idaho team to win five consecutive 3A boys titles. The sweep brings head coach Brett Hill’s career total of state titles to 45 combined between cross country and track.

A year after placing 18th, Timberlake senior Logan Hunt won the 3A boys individual title in 15:48.36.

Two more team titles and an individual title went to eastern Idaho in 2A. A year after placing second to teammate Andy Gebhardt, junior Johnathon Simmons broke the 16-minute barrier for the first time to win the 2A boys individual title in 15:56.55 to help Salmon defend its team title with 22 points.

After two years of placing second, McCall-Donnelly junior Sophie McManus won the 2A girls race in 18:30.7. Soda Springs won the 2A girls team title to extend Idaho’s longest active state title streak for any sport and any classification to 14 in a row. The 18-point victory margin over Bear Lake, their district opponent, was the closest for the Cardinals since they edged Firth by nine points in 2008. Bear Lake had three finishes in the top five thanks to sisters Elli Kelsey, Elise Kelsey and Josi Kelsey, but sophomore Brynlee Simmons led Soda Springs’ top five runners to finishes in the top 24 to extend the Cardinals’ historic title streak.

“They buy in. They believe,” Soda Springs head coach Jeff Horsley said. “I don’t know how we get them to believe us every year, but they do. It’s been so much fun to just see them find out things about themselves they didn’t think they could do.”

Liberty Charter senior Caleb Hamblin became the first 1A boy to repeat as individual champion, winning in 15:31.4. Liberty Charter claimed the boys team title for the third year in a row, the first 1A team to do so since Idaho broke up 2A and 1A into separate races in 2015. Three years after winning her last individual state title on the same course, senior Britta Holmberg of The Ambrose School claimed the girls race in 19:01.4. Keely Cranney led Oakley to three finishes in the top 17 to give the Hornets a repeat team title.

Team champions - FULL RESULTS

Class 5A - Timberline boys 84 points; tiebreaker over Meridian, Boise girls 44 points

Class 4A - Idaho Falls boys 54 points, Idaho Falls girls 65 points

Class 3A - Sugar-Salem boys 36 points, Sugar-Salem girls 27 points

Class 2A - Salmon boys 22 points, Soda Springs girls 49 points

Class 1A - Liberty Charter boys 55 points, Oakley girls 45 points