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It's officially unofficial, and Thompson Falls cross country coach Sarah Naegeli likes it that way.

The unofficial Western B-C Divisional cross country meet will be held at River's Bend Golf Course west of Thompson Falls Wednesday, Oct. 16. The meet is officially the final one of the season until the Montana All-Class Meet in Great Falls arrives on Oct. 26.

Naegeli likes the fact that Thompson Falls will again be hosting the divisional meet, and she also likes the fact that it is not a true qualifying meet for the upcoming State meets – in Montana all teams automatically qualify for the season-ending State meets.

"That's one thing I like about Montana cross country, it is a true State meet with every team there at the end," she said. "It's nice to be able to reward kids for their efforts all season by finishing up the season at the biggest meet of the year."

The Lady Hawks appear to have a shot at claiming the unofficial Western B team title with their strong lineup of runners. "That's what the girls are aiming for," Naegeli said. "It's been pretty tight between us, Bigfork and Eureka all year, we will see how it ends up going at divisional."

Before Oct. 16, however, Hawk harriers have one more regular season meet to compete in before the divisional meet, and that will be in the Eureka Relays Thursday in Lincoln County.

Led by Josey Neesvig and Justin Morgan, the Lady Hawks and Hawk boys hope to make a strong showing in the divisional meet.

Neesvig, Ellie Baxter, Sierra Hanks, Roni Hanks, Shaylynda Walker, Reagan Hanks and Meghan Baxter will be running for score at River's Bend for the Lady Hawks, while Morgan, Jack Green, Marc Boyd, Daniel Ryan and Briar Palmer will be making the running case for the Hawk boys.

Hawk runners enjoyed their most recent race at the Mission Shadow Meet at Silver Fox Golf Course outside of Pablo Saturday. The Hawks look forward to this annual meet, which features staggered starts and lots of hay bales to jump.

"It was cool and windy with off and on rain," Naegeli said. "The kids had a lot of fun with it." And the staggered starting method seems to inspire some runners to dig down harder. "It's interesting, some people really pop off some good times running in this format," she added.

NATHAN COTTINGHAM

Neesvig led the Lady Hawks in, finishing 10th in 21:27, followed by Ellie Baxter (27th in 22:43), Sierra Hanks (35th in 22:59), Roni Hanks (52nd in 26:29) and Walker (54th in 27:16 in spite of fighting a sideache). Reagan Hanks missed the meet home sick, and Megan Baxter rested an ailing knee.

Morgan led Hawk boys, placing 20th in 18:05, followed by Green (19:28), Boyd (21:39), Ryan (22:16) and Briar Palmer (23:31).

In the JV boys race, Conner Malone (23:58), Isaac Reed (24:03), Hunter Little (24:09), JJ Fields (25:06) and Ben Croft (26:14) were the bale jumpers for the Hawks. Amy Risser (29:02), Tiana Goatley (44:10) and Hannah Corl (44:54) competed for the Lady Hawk JV.

In the junior high girls race, Hattie Neesvig set a new Thompson Falls record of 13:05 in winning fourth place and Faith Palmer clocked out 32nd in 15:30. With the Hawk junior high boys, Cael Thilmony tracked down 10th place in 12:42 and Nathan Cottingham timed out 32nd in 13:31.