Cross country girls place third at district
<p>Lauren Thorstenson, left, Annie Berget, Krysten Mossburg, Laura Bales, Alee Julson, Trinity Wallace, Olivia Friss and Grace Doolin.</p>
The Libby Loggers cross-country team competed in the district meet at Thompson Falls on Saturday, with the girls placing third out of nine teams.
Freshman Lauren Thorstenson led the ladies with a time of 20:35, which earned her fourth place honors, finishing behind three runners from Bigfork. Senior Krysten Mossburg finished 21st with a time 22:49 and Trinity Wallace rounded out the Libby top three in 22nd place, finishing the race in 22:55.
Niklaus Gier led Libby’s boys, with a time of 19:23 for a 28th place finish.
“I can’t really express how proud I am of these girls for placing third in this conference,” coach Rod Tempel said. “It’s something I didn’t even think of as possible, especially since the smoke has kept us from training like we should. It’s unbelievable, how hard they worked to make this happen. With it, though, comes a responsibility to go to the state meet and run well.”
The cross-country team wraps up the season at the Black Hills Golf Course in Great Falls on Saturday with the state meet. Libby is taking 15 runners to the meet, seven boys and eight girls.
The girls’ team will consist of Thorstenson, along with Krysten Mossburg, Trinity Wallace, Annie Berget, Olivia Friss, Alee Julson and Laura Bales. The boys’ team will be Gier, along with Stephen Williams, Colin Maloney, Tim Goodman, Tanner DeHaven, Kevin Barnes and Jason Brant.