Megan Habegger rounds a corner during the girls 5,000 meter race against East Valley as her Cheney teammate Lexi Brooks follows not far behind.
Left to right: Cheney runners Drake Johnson, Bas Holland and Jack Peabody lead the pack early in the boys 5,000-meter race against East Valley.
Cheney High's boys and girls cross country squads ran their Great Northern League marks to 2-0 with wins over East Valley last Wednesday on their new course at Eastern Washington University. The girls placed all seven varsity runners in the top-seven spots to down the Knights 15-50 while the boys five scorers owned six of the top slots in their 19-41 win on the 5,000-meter course.
Hannah Spakousky topped the girls field, winning with a time of 20 minutes, 48 seconds. She was followed by Megan Habegger (22:39.2), Lexi Brooks (22:40.5), Alecia Brooks (22:45.7) and Jolene Whiteley in 22:58.4. Jessica Vietzke was sixth in 23:40.6 and Alexia Batchelor was seventh in 23:49.8.
Drake Johnson led the boys field with a time of 17:34.4, followed by Matt Christianson second in 17:35.6 (season record) and Bas Holland third in 17:45.4. Jack Peabody was fifth in 18:15.2 and Tucker Cunningham completed Cheney's scoring in sixth at 18:20.9
Andres Margraf was eighth (18:47.8) and JT Gasper was 10th (19:18.2). Isaiah Rigo won the wheelchair race with a time of 9:27.
The Blackhawks success continued on Saturday at the Inland Empire Challenge in Lewiston, Idaho. All four squads - varsity and junior varsity - placed in the top-three in their respective races on the 5,000-meter course at Lewiston Orchards, home course for Lewis Clark State College's cross country team.
Johnson led the boys to third out of 15 teams by placing eighth in 16:01. Blackhawks co-coach Derek Slaughter said the senior's goal is to be below 16 minutes and "he's on the cusp" of doing that.
Holland, Cunningham, Margraf, Dillon Newbry and Gasper all set new PRs in finishing 19th, 34th, 40th, 53rd and 68th respectively. Peabody established a new season best of 17:16 for 25th.
Spakousky set a new PR of 19:12 for third while Lexi and Alecia Brooks, Brette Draper, Habegger, Whiteley and Vietzke also PRd, placing 12th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 24th and 34th respectively. The Cheney girls finished third overall with 57 points, two points behind Idaho 4A Post Falls and 13 back of 4A Sandpoint.
Cheney's success extended to the JV, where junior Patrick Purviance set a new PR of 18:22 to lead the boys to a third-place finish in the 13-team field. The best came in the girls race where freshman Alexia Batchelor topped everyone in the 51-runner field with a first-place time - and new PR - of 21:51, leading the Blackhawks girls JV to a second-place finish.
Slaughter said the times at Lewiston were "surprising," given it was Homecoming, an event that can create distractions. He and the other coaches thought it was "hit or miss" as to how the teams would perform.
"We didn't have any misses," he said.
Cheney begins a crucial stretch in league action with a pair of challenging dual meets, beginning with the home finale Wednesday, Oct. 5, against Pullman and finishing next Wednesday at West Valley.
On the boys side, Pullman is ranked ninth and West Valley eighth in the Sept. 26 Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association 2A poll. Cheney's girls will face a Greyhounds team ranked fourth in that same 2A poll.
Slaughter said both teams have set trips to state as their goals for the season, and that will begin by measuring how they might match up in district competition with both schools.
"Can we run the best at districts?" Slaughter said. "These next two weeks are going to be crucial, (for) both boys and girls, as markers of our success."
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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