Libby's Farmer, Watson medal at state cross country championships

It’s been nearly a decade since the Libby Loggers cross country program had multiple state medalists, but that’s exactly what they did last week in Missoula at the University of Montana golf course.

At the Montana State High School Association Class A Championships, freshman Capri Farmer captured fourth in the girls race while sophomore Cody Watson was fifth in the boys event.

“The kids all had personal bests and we’re just so proud of all of them,” Loggers head coach Brittany Katzer said.

The Loggers last had multiple medalists in 2016 when they competed in Class B. In Rodd Zeiler’s first year, Colin Maloney was 10th in the boys race and Lauren Thorstenson was 13th.

Libby’s last medalist, prior to this season, was sophomore Madison Vincent. She was sixth at the 2022 Class A Championships, Katzer’s first year as head coach. Vincent opted to focus on soccer and stopped running on the cross country team after that year.

Since 2002, Loggers cross country has largely been unremarkable. In 2003, Cassie Hughes’ 18th place finish at state and Nikola Falk’s 17th place finish in 2009 were the closest they got to a medal before 2016.

The Loggers nearly had a third medalist last week as senior Rowen Sherbo placed 19th, about six seconds from placing in the top 15.

Tuesday, the trio and their head coach spoke to The Western News about their season.

Katzer credited Sherbo for his leadership as a team captain and de facto assistant coach. 

“The kids wouldn’t be where they are if it weren’t for his leadership,” Katzer said. “We have 45 runners from grades 6 to 12 and there are just me and assistant Andrew Mehan. So, Rowen led the high school workouts for us and the kids trust him.”

Sherbo said he played basketball for awhile before beginning to run competitively during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I found a passion for it and helping lead the high school workouts wasn’t difficult because they’re all good kids and it felt natural to me,” Sherbo said.

Sherbo is planning on attending Carroll College in Helena and majoring in Biochemistry. He said he may run competitively there, too.

Runnerfell, held before the pandemic hit, piqued Farmer’s interest in running in fifth grade. She also is a current member of the varsity soccer team and didn’t miss a game this season.

In seventh grade, Farmer broke Libby school records in the 400, 800 and 1,600-meter runs. In eighth grade, Farmer medaled at the 2024 Class A state Track and Field Championships in the 3,200-meter run. Farmer also broke the school record in the 3,200 the week before at the divisional meet.

“I enjoy the competition quite a bit and it’s really encouraging to see the improvement from the beginning of the season to the end,” she said.

Farmer acknowledged competing in two sports took a toll and she took a break in July.

“I took a break, but it turned out to be a little bit too long,” Farmer said.

She wasn’t too thrilled with how the season began, but she was able to pick it up in time for a great ending.

“Capri likes to wait a bit and pick ‘em off one by one,” Katzer said. 

But at state, Farmer changed her approach.

“I knew I had to be more aggressive and I didn’t want to play catch up,” she said.

Farmer said she’ll be competing in the Nike Cross Regionals Northwest meet Nov. 16 in Boise. That came about after Polson’s Morgan Delaney invited Farmer to join the Polson Running Club.

Delaney was the Class A girls champion last week.

For Watson, he made the difficult decision to stop playing soccer after last season. He also endured being bit by a free-roaming dog three weeks before state.

Watson was running on Greers Ferry Road when the dog bit him. The bite drew some blood and required a trip to the Emergency Room at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center. Fortunately, the wound did not require stitches.

Watson was one of two Logger runners to eclipse the 300-mile mark during the summer running program. Sherbo was the other and he went over the 350-mile mark.

“It was difficult to leave my soccer teammates, but I felt to compete in cross country, it was something I had to do,” Watson said.

Watson got involved in competitive running after his cross country ski coach, Ben Scott, encouraged him to do so. He also competed in Runnerfell in sixth grade.

“It helps me stay in shape for cross country skiing,” Watson said. “If I get a chance to run in college, I’d do it.”

Katzer hopes the performances encourage other kids to run and be competitive.

“It’s a sport that can be enjoyed for a lifetime and it’s a sport where kids can largely determine their success by how much effort they put into it,” Katzer said.