IDAHO STATE MEET

Fast Course Leads To Eye-Popping Times At Idaho State Meet In Lewiston; Landon Heemeyer Runs 14:38 To Lead Rocky Mountain, Annastasia Peters Cruises To 16:56

Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

A flat and fast course in Lewiston set the scene for impressive finishes and record times Saturday at the Idaho high school cross country state championships.

The Rocky Mountain boys, who last month became the first Idaho team to win the boys elite title at the Bob Firman Invitational at Eagle Island State Park northwest of Boise, got sub-15 times and a 1-2 finish from Landon Heemeyer (14:38.79) and Tyler Sainsbury (14:51.53) to repeat as 5A state champions with a score of 30. The Grizzlies also got five top-15 finishes from Cody Lucas (15:26.79, seventh place), Keith Uitdewilligen (15:27.06, eighth place) and Hunter Hill (15:33.25, 12th place) en route to winning by 41 points over Boise.

Heemeyer, who won the boys elite race last month at Bob Firman, has broken the 15-minute barrier four times this season, and his winning time Saturday is the fastest on record for an Idaho boy for a 5,000-meter cross country race. 

The Boise girls extended their 5A state title streak to five straight, getting all seven runners across the finish line with top 40 finishes to win with a score of 54. Allie Bruce (17:46.84, second place), Samantha Smith (18:07.68, seventh place), Lydia Nance (18:10.56, ninth place) and Zoe Sims (18:13.16, 11th place) all medaled for the Brave, who won by 29 points over district foe Rocky Mountain.

Boise coach Aaron Olswanger said it is difficult to express what it means to win five state titles in a row, especially with Sims, Sophia Clark and Lola Boice new to the varsity top-seven this year. 

"I don't think I can fully process it," Olswanger said. "This was a big time adjustment for those girls to get caught up at this level. They bought into the culture and love each other so well."

Smith, a junior who spent almost all of October with the U.S. team at the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup in India, raced for the first time since the Bob Firman Invite. The U.S. was eliminated by Nigeria in a quarterfinal penalty shootout loss on Oct. 21, and Smith returned home Wednesday night. 

"They had a tough time finding a flight out of India with enough room for 40, 50 people," Olswanger said. "She texted me when she got back to the States. She wanted to help out the team. She's a competitor."

The Rocky Mountain girls beat Boise by 24 points at the 5A District 3 championships the week prior to state. Olswanger said that result lit a fire in his girls. 

"We probably had the worst possible day we could've had at districts," Olswanger said. "We fixed some things with our mental approach and physically, we got our girls healthy. They don't like losing. They showed it today."

While Heemeyer and Sainsbury were two of five total sub-15 boys times Saturday, the 17-minute barrier was broken in the 5A girls race. Post Falls senior Annastasia Peters, who ran 16:53 at an invitational meet on the same course a year earlier, ran 16:56.07 to win the individual title by nearly 50 seconds over Bruce. Peters is undefeated in the 5k this season, breaking 18 minutes in all but one of those races, and has not lost to an Idaho runner since last year's state meet. She is the only Idaho girl on record to run under 17 minutes on a 5,000-meter cross country course.

"She was ridiculous," Olswanger said. "I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. From the gun, it was over. We actually talked to the girls last night and told them, 'Don't chase.'"

Olswanger said the Brave are taking this weekend to enjoy this moment and will take Halloween off before preparing for NXR Northwest on Nov. 12 at Eagle Island State Park. He added that he was proud of his boys team for taking second by two points over a talented Coeur d'Alene team for their best finish since 2009. 

"All seven of those boys were just focused and ran with a lot of grit and a lot of heart," he said. "This program has come such a long ways. The last time we were in Lewiston in 2018, we brought two individuals."

In 4A, Skyline junior and 2021 EastBay Nationals qualifier Nelah Roberts joined elite company by running a personal best and new eastern Idaho all-time best 17:31.72 to win a third consecutive state title. She is now one of eight Idaho girls of any size school to win three individual cross country state titles since the state meet began in 1974, one of six Idaho girls to win three titles in a row and she joins Twin Falls' Mattalyn Geddes as the only 4A girls to win three in a row. 

"Just coming into this state meet and thinking about last season making it to (EastBay) Nationals, honestly it's a bit of imposter syndrome," Roberts said. "It doesn't feel like this is real. I'm just so grateful for everything."

Roberts felt some redemption from the last time she ran on the state course on Oct. 1 at the Inland Empire Championships. The state course in Lewiston, which is used by Lewis-Clark State College, consists of three loops. She placed third at Inland Empire in 18:18 and then took two weeks off upon recognizing she was on the verge of injury from overtraining.

"It was definitely harder than last year," Roberts said of winning state again. "It was really fast. The three loops was kind of a mental block. Coming around the first time, I was like, 'Wow. I have to do this all over again.'"

She said taking time off earlier this month has reminded her to listen to her body, which she will prioritize as she prepares for NXR Northwest. She added that she hopes to see Peters there. The two have never raced head-to-head before. 

"I really hope she goes because I would love to race her," Roberts said. 

All four 4A girls trophies were claimed by eastern Idaho. Preston repeated as champion with a score of 61, getting top 25 finishes from all seven and medals from Bethany Moore (18:43.08, ninth place), Angelie Scott (18:48.57, 10th place), Myah Atchley (18:49.56, 11th place), Maren Leffler (18:49.72, 12th place) and Elly Jeppsen (18:54.8, 19th place). Roberts led Skyline to second place with a score of 97.

Three boys dipped under 15 minutes in the 4A boys race. Blackfoot senior Matt Thomas ran a personal best 14:47.61 to win the individual title a year after teammate Eli Gregory became Blackfoot's first boys individual state champion since 1974. Twin Falls' Stockton Stevens and Bishop Kelly's Austin Clough finished in second and third place, respectively, breaking the 15-minute barrier for the first time in their careers with times of 14:54.07 and 14:58.19.

"It's definitely something I've been dreaming of for a while," Thomas said. "Going into the race, I knew it was gonna be a fast race. There's a lot of kids that could win. There's a lot of kids that wanted to win."

Thomas added that a sub-15 time was on his mind entering the race. Last year, he ran 14:50.6 at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama, a race he plans to return to this year as well as NXR Northwest.

"My main goal was to push the pace," Thomas said. "Mainly, I wanted to control the race and make sure that last mile was a fast pace."

Clough led Bishop Kelly to its first team title since 2008. Isaac Edwards (15:35.16, eighth place), Kevin Corrigan (15:40.50, ninth place), Charlie Goss (15:52.08, 14th place) and Jack Tobin (15:54.40, 19th place) also medaled for the Knights in their 10-point victory over Idaho Falls, which rejoined 4A this year after placing first and second in 5A the previous two seasons. 

A year after placing second by two points to Snake River, Sugar-Salem edged Snake River by two points to win the 3A girls state title. The title is the eighth in program history and brings coach Brett Hill's total to 51 between track and cross country in his careers at Firth and Sugar-Salem.

Sugar-Salem, which got medals from Hailey Dalling (19:28.51, seventh place), Kate Dickson (19:40.33, 11th place) and Abigail Anderson (20:11.94, 20th place), and Snake River each had top-30 finishes from five runners in a razor-close team race. 

Hill described the meet as one of the most nerve-wracking of his career.

"They pulled a miracle," Hill said. "The first mile we didn't have a single girl in the top 30. We didn't win it until the last straightaway." 

Coeur d'Alene Charter senior McKenna Kozeluh, whose only two losses this season have been to 5A champ Peters, repeated as 3A girls individual champion in 17:43.8. Hill said he knew an elite runner like Kozeluh would establish a fast pace, and he told his girls team as much.

"The Coeur d'Alene Charter girl, she's looking at an elite Division I scholarship," Hill said. "I told my girls, 'Let's not get caught up in that fast paced race. For every second you run your first mile fast, it's gonna cost you later in the race."

Kimberly snapped Sugar-Salem's seven-year streak of 3A boys state titles, getting medals from Ben Browning (15:51.51, third place), Grayden Devries (15:55.11, fourth place) and Joe Hopkins (16:47.47, 15th place), to win the 3A state championship with 74 points to Sugar-Salem's 91. 

Hill said Browning made the difference for Kimberly. He added that he is excited about how his teams fared  during a season they were not favored to win either state title. 

"I had a number of coaches comment to us, 'We knew we better take advantage because this was your down year,'" Hill said. "But as the year went on, we felt like we could compete and compete for trophies."

Timberlake junior Jacob Barnhart claimed the 3A boys individual state title in 15:47.56.

The 2A state titles went to district rivals from eastern Idaho. After taking second place by slim margins the previous two seasons, Soda Springs won the 2A girls state title with 51 points and top-20 finishes by Lizzie Beutler (19:20.13, seventh place), Ellie Wood (19:44.72, 13th place), Jinettie Gilbert (19:45.65, 15th place) and Hannah Evans (19:52.18, 18th place). It is the 15th state title in program history for the Soda Springs girls, who won every year from 2006 to 2019.

The Ambrose School senior Cameron Moore repeated as 2A girls individual state champion in 18:33.04.

West Side claimed the 2A boys state title with 66 points, getting medals from Bradyn Noreen (15:59.10, fourth place), Grant Clawson (16:14.70, sixth place) and Ethan Willis (16:38.90, 10th place). The 2A boys individual state title went to North Fremont sophomore Corbin Johnston, who won in 15:21.3 for his seventh victory this season. 

Raft River's girls put up the lowest girls score of the day, claiming the 1A state title with 32 points a year after placing second. Junior Allie Black led her team to victory and repeated as champion in 18:34.3 for her seventh win this fall. Her teammates Haven Campbell (20:02.83, seventh place), Audrey Gilbert (20:23.15, 12th place), Libby Boden (20:33.51, 15th place) and Naomi Campbell (20:39.39, 16th place) also medaled.

Victory Charter was a double winner for the second consecutive year, repeating as 1A boys state champion with 48 points. The Vipers were led by repeat individual champion Ian Stockett's winning time of 15:19.49 and medal-winning finishes from Luke Stockett (15:40.52, fourth place), Benton Bernard (16:47.32, 12th place), Brody Hunt (17:00.88, 16th place), Asher Pirvu (17:07.27, 18th place) and Connor-Douglas Robbins (17:17.16, 20th place). 

Team champions

Class 5A - Rocky Mountain boys 30 points, Boise girls 54 points - RESULTS

Class 4A - Bishop Kelly boys 53 points, Preston girls 61 points - RESULTS

Class 3A - Kimberly boys 74 points, Sugar-Salem girls 74 points - RESULTS

Class 2A - West Side boys 66 points, Soda Springs girls 51 points - RESULTS

Class 1A - Victory Charter boys 48 points, Raft River girls 32 points - RESULTS