Six days after playing in Idaho's 5A girls soccer state championship match, Boise's top three girls cross country runners finished in the top 10 to help the Brave collect another state championship trophy Friday at Eagle Island State Park.

 

Sophomore duo Allie Bruce and Sammy Smith went 1-2 with respective times of 17:47.9 and 17:52.3, soccer teammate and Stanford women's soccer commit Logan Smith placed seventh in 18:26.8, and Annika Zuschlag (18:39.5), Lydia Nance (18:48) and Jamie Hamlin (18:49.9) also medaled with ninth, 11th and 12th-place finishes to give Boise its fourth consecutive 5A state title and 12th in program history with a score of 27 points. The US#6 team won by 86 points over Rocky Mountain.

 

Boise is the first Idaho 5A girls team to win four consecutive state titles since Meridian did so from 1999 to 2002. 

 

Post Falls junior Annastasia Peters, who entered state having run a 16:53 earlier in October in Lewiston, led Friday's race for 4,000 meters before Bruce and defending 5A individual state champion Sammy Smith moved past her. Bruce and Smith were locked into a sprint finish in the final 200 meters, where Bruce pulled ahead. Smith, who ran with a calf issue from soccer, had to be tended to shortly after in the medical tent.

 

"I love watching those kids give it their all and run max effort to be in there," Boise coach Aaron Olswanger said. "They were really helping each other. Annastasia Peters did a heck of a job dictating the pace. Gotta give her credit for that."

 

Due to being dual fall sport athletes, the Smiths and Bruce were limited in how many cross country practices and meets in which they could participate, and they missed the 5A District 3 championship meet due to the soccer tournament. In their absence, Boise won the girls district title by 12 points. In soccer, where Boise placed second to Lake City, those three got plenty of miles in each day.

 

With that in mind, their preparation for state cross country six days later was recovery.

 

"Sammy told me during their semifinal game, I think she ran nine miles," Olswanger said. "It was a double overtime, rainy game. They got some easy runs in (this week), some stretching, ice baths. That's kinda what it's been all fall...make sure they're recovering."

 

Boise graduates Hamlin, Zuschlag and Logan Smith from its top seven. Depth has been a strength for the Brave, and development of incoming and returning runners will be key in continuing the team's winning ways.

 

"We've gotta keep developing these kids," Olswanger said. "It's gonna be a challenge to stay on top."

What made the day twice as nice for Boise was getting a third place boys trophy. Olswanger said his boys runners have come a long way and show promise.

 

"We're so proud of those boys,"Olswanger said. "We didn't even make the state meet a few years ago. Our top five from today all return. We've got a bunch of kids who like to work and understand racing."

 

Olswanger said a handful of his runners will compete at Nike Cross Northwest on Nov. 13, then Boise will conclude its season by competing as a team at the Pacific Northwest Regional XC Showcase on Nov. 20 in Arlington, Wash., on the Hole in the Wall course.

 

Rocky Mountain won its first state title since 2018 on the boys side with a score of 40 points, getting top finishes from Trent Wigod (second in 15:37), Landon Heemeyer (third in 15:56.3), Keith Uitdewilligen (11th in 16:10.9), Zac Pollock (12th in 16:11.2) and Tyler Sainsbury (16th in 16:18.6). Idaho Falls, which entered Friday having won four consecutive titles (three in 4A, one in 5A), was second with 56 points. 

 

Upon the graduation of Borah's Nathan Green, the three-time defending individual state champion who is now competing for Washington, the 5A boys individual title was up for grabs. It went to the runner who placed second to Green's state record wins in the state 3,200 and 1,600-meter track finals in May: Luke Athay of Idaho Falls. The sophomore, who entered Friday undefeated this fall, won in 15:19.8 to join Zac Bright (2019) and Adam Follett (2003) as Idaho Falls boys individual state champions since 2000.

 

Due to COVID-19 prompting the cancellations of Nike Cross Northwest last year and Bob Firman Invitational last year and this year, Friday was the first time Athay had competed at Eagle Island since middle school.

 

"When I first crossed the line and went over to my mom, I was crying," Athay said. "I thought, 'Wow. I just actually won.' It's really special. It's really cool."

 

Longtime Idaho Falls coach Alan McMurtrey said Athay's older brother, Mitchell, who was part of the Tigers four-year state title run, made a prediction about two years ago that McMurtrey never forgot. Luke was an eighth grader at the time, and Mitchell told McMurtrey his brother would be a multiple time state champion.

 

"For a sophomore to be able to do that and be so reliable, so dependable, it wasn't necessarily a surprise," McMurtrey said. "He's so consistent. For that to happen so early in that kid's career, it's pretty amazing. I don't think there's many people outside of the distance running community that appreciate how difficult it is what he achieved."

 

Athay said he experienced a mix of emotions on Friday from the elation of his individual title, to initial sadness after placing second as a team, to gratitude and pride for what Idaho Falls accomplished this season. The Tigers had numerous new faces this fall. Athay was the lone returning medalist from last year's team, which was senior-laden. 

 

As the hours passed, Athay said Idaho Falls' second place finish became more meaningful. 

 

"At least for me, I think I'm more proud of that second place than first place last year," said Athay, who will run at Nike Cross Northwest and Foot Locker West. "Last year, we were so dominant. This year we had to bond and had so many new faces. I'm really proud of that second place trophy and I'm really proud of my team. Rocky is just a great team. They earned that first place trophy."

 

There were emotions for McMurtrey as well. Technical difficulties with the timing equipment delayed the start of both the 5A girls and boys races, prompting the boys to warm up twice within 80 minutes, which McMurtrey said was less than ideal. During awards, he recognized the disappointment in his runners at placing second.

 

At dinner after the meet, McMurtrey said he and the other coaches reminded the Tigers of what they accomplished this fall. He also noticed that the motivation is already there for the returning runners. Next year, Idaho Falls returns to 4A.

 

"We tried to remind them of the good things that happened," McMurtrey said. "'You guys have had a great year and you went for it.' There's no regrets. I couldn't ask for one more thing out of that group."

 

In 4A, two droughts ended as a pair of eastern Idaho schools claimed team titles Friday. Led by an individual title from senior Eli Gregory in 15:43 and Matt Thomas (third in 15:46.4), Justin Whitehead (eighth in 16:14.6) and JT Morgan (11th in 16:24.2), Blackfoot claimed the 4A boys title with 44 points. It is the first boys cross country state title for the Broncos since 1975.

 

"It's one of those things where you kinda have to remind yourself it's not a dream," Gregory said. "It really happened. One day it might sink in, but it might not for the next little while. Our quote before the race was, 'Pain is temporary, but glory is forever.' I know all of us will take that for the rest of our lives that we're all state champions." 

 

Gregory's individual gold is also historic. He is Blackfoot's first boys individual state champion since Dave Draper in 1974, and he is the nephew of Mike Gregory, who won individual titles for Blackfoot in 1972 and 1973. Gregory said he is the lone distance runner among his sprints-focused siblings, but Friday was a big day for the household. 

 

The senior also expressed gratitude to the Blackfoot program, which he has seen progress in each of his four years.

 

His freshman season, Blackfoot placed eighth at state. The Broncos then placed sixth and third before ending the title drought.

 

"I don't feel like that drought is gonna happen again," Gregory said. "I feel so confident in them. I feel like they're gonna be in great hands. Especially with the state championship, it's gonna show kids around Blackfoot and the youth that we're an amazing team and you want to be on a great team."

 

The Preston girls, who placed second last year, claimed the 4A state title for the first time since 2008. All seven Preston runners finished in the top 22, with Angelie Scott (third in 19:19.2), McKinley Scott (seventh in 19:29.2), Oakley Reid (14th in 19:54.5), Tenley Kirkbride (17th in 19:58.6), Maren Leffler (18th in 19:59.1) and Elly Jeppsen (20th in 20:05) earning medals. With the exception of McKinley Scott, all of them  are underclassmen.

 

Skyline sophomore Nelah Roberts repeated as 4A individual state champion, clocking 17:53.3 to win by 28 seconds. It was the second sub-18 time of her career, and made her the first eastern Idaho girl to break 18 minutes at Eagle Island. Roberts led defending state champion Skyline to five top-40 finishes and a third place team finish behind fellow eastern Idaho teams Preston and Pocatello.

 

Unlike her older siblings and state champions Harrison and Adria, Nelah Roberts had never competed at Eagle Island before Friday. She said she could hear two or three girls behind her after the first mile before distancing herself. 

 

"I thought it was a pretty good course," said Roberts, who owns eastern Idaho's fastest 5,000-meter time. "The beach was probably the hardest part. I didn't want to change anything for this race. I went out pretty fast like I usually do."

 

Friday was her sixth win in seven meets, and she plans to run at both Nike Cross Northwest and Foot Locker West. Roberts said repeating as individual state champion was a confidence booster for her after catching so much attention last year by winning as a freshman. 

 

"Last year was huge for me because it was breaking a barrier," Roberts said. "It was something a lot of people didn't expect."

 

In 3A, a season of parity in eastern Idaho ended with the boys and girls team titles coming down to single-digit margins on Saturday. While Sugar-Salem extended its 3A state record boys team title streak to seven in a row with 42 points, Snake River edged Sugar-Salem 67 to 69 to end the Diggers' four-year streak of girls titles.

 

Snake River's title was a program first and the team was led by Hailey Raymond (seventh in 20:00.9), Ainslee Miller (ninth in 20:06.7), Reagan Van Orden (10th in 20:10.7) and Allister Dillow (20th in 21:03.9). Snake River's fourth and fifth runners finished ahead of Sugar-Salem's fifth.

 

Coeur d'Alene Charter junior McKenna Kozeluh won the 3A individual title in 18:46.8. 

 

Longtime Sugar-Salem coach Brett Hill, who now has a combined 49 state titles between cross country and track in his coaching career, said at one point he thought his girls were going to get third and kept telling the Diggers to pass South Fremont red jerseys and Snake River purple jerseys. He and South Fremont head coach Ryan Campbell met early in the meet and addressed how tight the trophy race would be.

 

"He asked, 'What are you thinking?'" Hill said. "'I said, 'I think you've got us by two points.' He asked, 'What about Snake River?' I said, 'I think they've got us by two points, too.' It was gonna be point for point for point. Snake and South, man, they both pushed us to the very limits. It makes the state meet fun." 

 

South Fremont, which took second to Sugar-Salem by six points at last week's 3A District 6 championships, ended up in third place. 

 

It came down to Snake River and Sugar-Salem on the boys side, with Sugar-Salem winning by five points. Snake River was led by senior Keegan McCraw claiming the individual title in 16:19.3, with teammate Lincoln High taking second in 16:21.2. Sugar-Salem got top-seven finishes from Brigham Dalling (fourth in 16:57.6), Mason Smith (fifth in 16:59.9) and Porter Holt (seventh in 17:06.4).

 

Hill said his girls took second without Kate Dickson, who was injured at districts and replaced by Rebecca Galbraith. His boys team nearly faced a similar situation as Parker Dupree ran despite spraining his ankle earlier in the week. 

 

"Adversity is a good learning tool," Hill said. "I thought we ran really well. The last few years, we've been fortunate to win by big margins. This was one of those nailbiters."

 

The 2A team titles were also decided by small margins Saturday and ultimately went to a pair of eastern Idaho conference rivals. Salmon, which won the last three 2A boys state titles, edged powerhouse Soda Springs 62-66 to win its first girls cross country state title since 2002, when it was a 3A school. Salmon was led by Abby Williams (eighth in 20:01.4), Sara Deschaine (14th in 20:26), Brylin Bills (17th in 20:29.2) and Sedona Cannon (18th in 20:29.4). All of are underclassmen.

 

Cameron Moore, a junior from The Ambrose School who was third at state last year, won the 2A girls individual title in 19:05.8.

 

North Fremont, which edged Salmon 36-39 to win last week's 2A District 6 championships, snapped Salmon's three-year win streak 60-64 to claim the 2A boys state title, the first in school history. Contributing to the Huskies' historic win were Corbin Johnston (third in 16:11.5), Zack Johnston (fourth in 16:16.6), Max Palmer (seventh in 16:30.5) and Eric Anderson (18th in 17:38).

 

Nampa Christian senior Grady Mylander, who ran 14:59 earlier this month to become the second Idaho boy on record to run a sub-15 5,000, had the fastest time of the weekend upon winning the 2A individual title in 15:15.8. He needed to run that fast to defeat sophomoe Daniel Simmons of Samon, one of the top runners in the state, who was second in 15:18.8.

 

The 1A girls team title race was as close as the 3A girls. Logos edged defending champion Raft River to win the title 39-41. Sara Casebolt (fifth in 19:59.90), Clara Anderson (sixth in 20:12.7) and Alyssa Blum (11th in 20:40.1) led the way for Logos.

 

Raft River did keep the individual girls title. Sophomore Allie Black, who placed third last year behind her former teammates Kaybree and Karlee Christensen, won Saturday in 19:20.7.

 

Victory Charter won the 1A boys title 53-70 over Rockland. Victory Charter junior Ian Stockett claimed the individual title in 15:59.2 while teammates Luke Stockett (third in 16:24.7) and Connor-Douglas Robbins (eighth in 17:10.5) were big contributors.