Season winds to a close for LRS cross country team

The finish line is in sight for Lind-Ritzville Sprague cross country runners. All that’s left on the schedule is the District 7 championships, regionals and state championships. Last week, the Broncos competed in a league meet in St. John and an invitational in Lakeside.

Linnea Schafer continued her strong season for Broncos, leading the girls team in both races.

LRS head coach Morgan Hunt has been pleased with Schafer’s performance this year.

“Linnea Schafer is having a wonderful season,” Hunt said. “She really has been focused on breaking her PR, with state on her mind. Compared to last year, she has really excelled mentally and physically as a runner. She has hard work and dedication, which makes me extremely proud of her as a runner and a person.”

In the meet at St. John, which included the south divisions of Districts 7 and 9, Schafer finished No. 5 with a time of 23:27. Also finishing in the top half of the 24 runners who finished the race was Julia Klein. Klein finished in 25:39, good for 12th place. Finishing in 18th, 19th and 20th were LRS’ Myra Miller (29:10), Cameron Wood (29:15) and Mercedes Miller (29:28).

On the boys side, Eli Michels had his best outing of the season, finishing 10th for LRS. It was his first top-10 finish of a league meet this season. Michels finished in 20:28. Also for LRS, Caleb Heater finished 25th in 23:51, Hugo Hernandez Martin finished 27th in 24:58 and Levi Hoeft finished 30th in 26:02.

“The kids got to run through wheat fields, and take on the challenge of their long steep hill,” Hunt said of the meet in St. John. “Overall, the kids did great. I saw a lot of leadership, as well as fast finishes to the end of the race. It is always a fun run that the kids love.”

The Broncos then headed to Lakeside to compete in the Lake Spokane Invitational on Oct. 19. Schafer finished in 21:52.4 for 15th place. On the boys side, Michels was one of 94 runners in the JV race and finished 40th in 21:01.7.