Junior boys lead Blackhawks at Highlander

For a first meet, they performed well.

That was the assessment of Cheney High School cross country coaches Camille Moseley and Derek Slaughter of the Blackhawks performances at last Saturday's 35-team Highlander Invitational, run on the 2.5-mile course at Shadle Park High School.

There were of course some standouts. The first for both coaches was the Blackhawks junior boys, who finished third as a team in what would prove to be the day's fastest race.

Leading Cheney was Drake Johnson, who was competing in his first cross country meet. Johnson ran third for most of the race before falling back to finish fifth in 13 minutes, 40.80 seconds.

Matt Christianson was not far behind in 11th at 13:59.20, with Kaleb Lerch completing Cheney's top-20 trifecta by finishing 19th in 14:18.20. Mount Spokane's Hayden Dressel was first in 12:40.50, the day's fastest time by 28 seconds.

With a true varsity complement of seven runners in the race, and the top five scoring, Cheney racked up 47 points to finish three points back of 4A Walla Walla and 39 points ahead of last year's Great Northern League/District 7 runner up Pullman.

In the senior boys race, Luke Huguenin was 50th in 15:34.60 while Ryan Axtell placed 55th in 15:45.00. Slaughter said coupled with the junior boys top-five finishers, which includes Jack Peabody, along with top freshmen finisher Tucker Cunningham, and extrapolated over the longer 5,000-meter course run league competition, a district championship race held today would have Cheney a close third behind East Valley and Pullman.

"Our league, like we thought, is going to be super tight," Slaughter added.

Another highlight for Slaughter was the six members of the freshmen boys team, who, led by Cunningham in 24th at 15:08.93, placed 13th out of 15 teams.

The freshmen girls were also a highlight of the day for Moseley, who coached all three in middle school. Sara Nanny posted the highest finish of any Cheney girl last Saturday, placing 12th, with Julia Gundlach in 14th and Megan Christianson 26th.

"It might only be three, but it's a studly three," Moseley said.

The varsity girls placed ninth overall in team scoring with 206 points, ahead of 11th-place East Valley (240) but well back of fifth-place and defending GNL champion Pullman (152). Sophomore Hannah Spakousky led the Blackhawks, finishing 30th in 16:57.40 while sophomore Brette Draper ran a "great race" in her first time on a cross country course to finish 37th in 17:18.70.

Moseley also praised first-time cross country runner Deja Williams, who hadn't been able to practice at long distances with the team due to the effects of smoke from regional wildfires had on her during preseason. Williams was the Blackhawks highest finisher in the girls combined race, placing 36th in 18:49.80.

Both Cheney teams face a big test this week as the take on East Valley Wednesday at Plantes Ferry State Park in the Spokane Valley in the first league meet for both schools. The Blackhawks follow that with a trip to Hayden Canyon near Hayden Lake for the Coeur d'Alene Super One Invitational, Saturday.

It's the first time Cheney has competed in the North Idaho meet, Slaughter said, and will be a chance for runners to get out on a "true cross country course" over hilly terrain and dirt trails.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].