Boise girls remain unbeaten, while boys SIC cross country title decided by three points

Eagle High junior Ashley LaJocies ran her fastest race of the season at the perfect time.

LaJocies completed the 5,000-meter course at Eagle Island State Park in 17 minutes, 41.48 seconds to win the girls individual championship by more than 20 seconds Friday at the 5A District Three cross country meet.

It was LaJocies’ fourth win in seven meets this season, but it didn’t come easily.

LaJocies got buried toward the rear of the pack at the start and had to steadily work her way back into contention.

“Ashley is a great closer. At 600, 800 meters, I don’t know if there’s anybody that can close as hard as she can,” Eagle coach Greg Harm said. “... She’s a really focused and driven kid, so at about 800 meters (to go), that was going to be our go point, and she was looking really sharp.”

Senior Maggie Liebich was second in 18:03.62 to lead the Boise girls to the team title with 35 points. Eagle (69), Mountain View (74), Timberline (104) and Rocky Mountain (156) also qualified for state Oct. 27 at The Orchards in Lewiston.

Two-time defending state champion Lexy Halladay of Mountain View was leading the race with about 150 meters to go when she collapsed. Halladay was able to get back up and finish the race in fourth.

Boise placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 20, with senior Eve Jensen in third (18:10.91), sophomore Rosina Machu fifth (18:22.72), freshman Mikella Tobin sixth (18:29.02) and junior Mary Kate Bender 19th (19:30.00). The Braves are currently the No. 6 team in the nation, according to milesplit.com.

“We went in with that mentality that this was a qualifying race, and we just wanted to advance to the next round,” Boise coach Aaron Olswanger said. “We’ll get a little more focused this week and do what we do.”

In the boys race, Borah sophomore Nathan Green ran to his sixth individual win this season in 15:24.60 for a comfortable margin of victory over second-place Josh Simboli of Timberline, who clocked a 15:43.94.

Rocky Mountain held off Timberline 44-47 for the boys team championship. Seniors Braden Heath, Seth Kohler and Joey Tolman led the Grizzlies’ pack with a 4-5-6 finish, and juniors Elias Everist (ninth) and Hunter Scoresby (20th) rounded out the scoring.

Borah (90), Mountain View (104) and Eagle (125) also secured state berths.

Many teams were missing key runners at Friday’s district meet because they were playing in the 5A state soccer tournament in Idaho Falls.

“We knew it was going to be a little bit closer than we thought it might be if we were running full strength,” Rocky Mountain coach Jeff Howard said. “So we told those guys we’re going to have to execute, and we had some younger guys on the back end in kind of new roles trying to score for us, and they really, really responded well.”

5A DISTRICT THREE MEET

At Eagle Island State Park

GIRLS

Top 5 teams to state

Team scores: 1. Boise 35, 2. Eagle 69, 3. Mountain View 74, 4. Timberline 104, 5. Rocky Mountain 156, 6. Meridian 166, 7. Capital 175, 8. Centennial 188, 9. Borah 237.

Top 23 individuals to state

Individuals: 1. LaJocies, Ashley Eagle 17:41.48; 2. Liebich, Maggie Boise 18:03.62; 3. Jensen, Eve Boise 18:10.91; 4. Halladay, Lexy Mountain View 18:19.37; 5. Machu, Rosina Boise 18:22.72; 6. Tobin, Mikella Boise 18:29.02; 7. Thueson, Aubrey Centennial 18:32.68; 8. Reeder, Robyn Capital 18:32.74; 9. Hansen, Brittney Meridian 18:35.28; 10. Russell, Anastasia Timberline (Boise) 18:46.19;

11. LaMar, Julia Eagle 18:48.72; 12. Rosin, Adelynn Mountain View 19:08.12; 13. Dildine, Lizzie Eagle 19:09.47; 14. Pritchard, Camryn Mountain View 19:09.69; 15. Thomas, Tiffany Borah 19:11.17; 16. Narus, Kaleena Timberline 19:12.00; 17. Bryson, Brinlee Eagle 19:20.36; 18. French, Morgan Mountain View 19:23.40; 19. Bender, Mary Kate Boise 19:30.00; 20. Martin, Sage Rocky Mountain 19:32.68; 21. Elliott, Molly Boise 19:33.54; 22. Stamper, Abby Timberline 19:35.59; 23. Fastabend, Teija Centennial 19:43.95.

BOYS

Top 5 teams to state

Team scores: 1. Rocky Mountain 44, 2. Timberline 47, 3. Borah 90, 4. Mountain View 104, 5. Eagle 125, 6. Boise 128, 7. Meridian 186, 8. Centennial 233, 9. Capital 249, 10. Skyview 308.

Top 24 individuals to state

Individuals: 1. Green, Nathan Borah 15:24.60; 2. Simboli, Josh Timberline 15:43.94; 3. Bostrom, Hayden Timberline 15:52.78; 4. Heath, Braden Rocky Mountain 15:53.73; 5. Kohler, Seth Rocky Mountain 15:57.39; 6. Tolman, Joey Rocky Mountain 16:08.75; 7. Martin, Joshua Eagle 16:13.48; 8. Litzsinger, Derek Eagle 16:14.50; 9. Everist, Elias Rocky Mountain 16:15.00; 10. Carlson, Cooper Mountain View 16:27.60;

11. Knoll, Theo Timberline 16:29.57; 12. Garey, Zach Borah 16:30.07; 13. Ogden, Kyler Mountain View 16:31.99; 14. Stamper, Caleb Timberline 16:33.06; 15. Earl, Graeme Boise 16:34.09; 16. Lambert, Ian Borah 16:34.37; 17. Hampton, Carson Timberline 16:36.22; 18. Wright, Carson Timberline 16:36.56; 19. Reynolds, Harrison Boise 16:37.74; 20. Scoresby, Hunter Rocky Mountain 16:38.06; 21. Heemeyer, Marcus Rocky Mountain 16:38.49; 22. Thomsen, Trevor Mountain View 16:41.85; 23. Hart, Caleb Meridian 16:44.99; 24. Demasters, Tyler Meridian 16:46.94.

This story was originally published October 20, 2018 at 3:19 PM.