Cheney boys shine in Boise XC meet

Officially the high school cross country season ended Nov. 5 in Pasco at the state championship meet.

But the sport requires a dedicated training regimen that expends to off-season training and competition. A big group of Cheney High School athletes traveled to Boise Nov. 12 to the Nike Cross Regionals and had some notable performances — particularly for the Blackhawks boys.

Running as the 509ers, Cheney not only finished third as a team but placed two runners in the top-10. They missed an individual title by a mere 5 seconds.

“Calvin’s goal was to win, and he almost achieved it,” his coach Derek Slaughter wrote in an email following sophomore Calvin Hilton’s (16:06.1) near miss to Kaden Chatfield (Wolverine Distance Club 2) at 16:01.1 for the individual title in the Boys Open 2 division that featured 294 runners.

Adam Estock, a senior, clocked a 16:32.5 to finish ninth. “Adam ran angry because he thought the state meet was not great for him,” Slaughter said. “He went out with the leaders and hung on.”

Other Cheney/509ers finishers included Brayden Martin (41/17:12.5), Conor Thomsen (69/17:35.5), Lucas Matos (78/17:38.7), Cameron Frenk (108/17:59.5) and Holland Hurd (190/18:51.4).

“It showed the boys are on their way on to bigger things in the next years,” Slaughter said, adding that “Ethan Martin ran the USATF meet in Spokane so even our freshman had a great weekend.”

The 509ers girls landed 15th with 438 points and behind Cougs 2 at 144 and were led by Sam Habegger’s 20 minute, 32.3 second time and a 69th finish.

Karlee Pope (86/20:42.7), Hannah Ward (123/21:03.0), Mika Corneil (177/21:52.7), Tenaya Belsby (220/22:31.0) and Nia Guest (250/23:56.9) were other 509er finishers in the 266 runner field.

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].