The meet had 52 total high school teams participating.

Varsity B, for schools in the 4A classification and smaller, went first, with Ririe senior Lucy Boone taking over the girls race at mile two en route to winning in 19:50.9. Snake River junior Paetyn Polatis, who led the race early, finished third in 20:33.5 while West Jefferson junior Bella Spencer finished second in 20:26.8. Boone placed third at Tiger-Grizz two years ago and second last year, and Sept. 12 was her first time breaking 20 minutes for the course.

Boone ran trails over the summer, which prepares her for courses like Freeman Park and its varied elevation.

"You can sometimes go without a downhill for a really long time," Boone said. "It teaches you how to run on tired legs."

Malad won a tight battle for the varsity B girls team title with 100 points, three points ahead of two-time defending varsity B champion Ririe in second and four points ahead of Snake River in third. Sophomore Aezlyn Summers (fifth place, 21:09.6) and sophomore Ellie Angell (13th place, 21:49.8) medaled for Malad.

Boone said the Bulldogs were without their No. 4 runner, fellow senior Hailey Robson, due to illness.

"She thought she was going to let us down because she is sick," Boone said. "We all had to step up a bit harder."

Sugar-Salem had a varsity B boys individual winner for the second consecutive year with sophomore Darrel Dickson's win in 16:41.6. He won by 27 seconds, taking an early lead and never looking back.

Dickson's former teammate and last year's varsity B individual winner, Dylan Ball, who graduated this past spring from Sugar-Salem, congratulated and encouraged Dickson following the race.

Dickson completed his uniform for Tiger-Grizz with a pair of shorts signed by Sugar-Salem alumnus from previous state championship cross country and track teams, including Ball, Kooper Williams (class of 2019) and Taylor Hill (2018). Dickson said he has raced well while wearing the shorts so far, but it holding off on adding his signature to them just yet.

"Usually (previous owners) sign them once they get (the shorts)," Dickson said. "Dylan passed them down to me. They've just been passed down for I don't know how long."

Dickson said he enjoyed the competition from such a large race, adding that he had been looking forward to Tiger-Grizz for a while.

"It's been on my mind," Dickson said. "I'm just happy with how I did."

Ririe senior Thomas Henderson (10th place, 17:55.7), senior Spencer Barney (13th place, 18:03.8) and sophomore Cody Baxter (14th place, 18:07.9) all medaled to help the defending 3A state champion Bulldogs win the varsity B boys team title with 89 points, taking first by six points over Malad.

Defending 5A girls individual state champion Raelee Richardson, who led by mile one, won the varsity A girls race in 19:24.6. The win followed two second-place finishes in previous seasons.

Richardson has already set a personal best 17:49 this season in her second race of junior year.

"My goal this year has been to break 17:30," Richardson said. "I was really happy with last week's time (at Caldwell). I ran 17:49 against some good (Rocky Mountain) girls."

Richardson and her Twin Falls teammates are also defending 5A girls state champions. The Bruins only graduated one runner who ran at last year's state meet, and Richardson said the season is going well so far.

"They're a super great group of girls, and not just with running," Richardson said. "We run with each other, laugh with each other. I think we all have similar goals."

Timberline, last year's 6A girls state runner-up, won the varsity A girls title by an 83-point margin over Owyhee, compiling 50 points and earning medals with performances by senior Sasha Livingston (second place, 19:32.3), sophomore Nadia Kouskov (fourth place, 19:37.9), senior Emma Bellomy (10th place, 20:35.3), sophomore Kailyn O'Connor (15th place, 20:51) and junior Harmony Smith (19th place, 21:00.2).

Senior Alexander Renna (eighth place, 16:49.8), junior Davis Roberts (ninth place, 16:58.3), junior William McCombs (16th place, 17:16.40), senior Kaleb Mickelsen (18th place, 17:19.4) and senior Desmond Swaner (19th place, 17:20.3) all medaled for defending 5A state champion Skyline on the way to winning the varsity A boys team title at they meet the Grizz co-host with Idaho Falls. The Grizzlies won with 70 points, a 16-point margin over Rigby.

Renna said he kept his mind on his teammates during an intense race that featured a tight lead pack at mile two.

"You get on that (start) line and everyone feels the buzz," Renna said. "I was a little nervous. I just prepared myself for this meet as best I can. I think this is one of the best team races we've had. Davis really helped me. He was there the whole time, kept me on the track I needed to be."

Centennial senior Drew Donahue set the tone early in the varsity A boys race, but the lead went to Century juniors Ethan Hansen and Ammon Bitton by mile two in a tight lead pack. Hansen won the individual title in 16:06.5 while Bitton placed second in 16:10.9.

"It's definitely a hard course," Hansen said of Freeman Park. "I think a little bit more hill repeats could have helped us out."

He added that he and Bitton work well together and are constantly communicating during a race if they are in close proximity.

"Me and Ammon, we're really talkative runners," Hansen said. "We'll tell each other what to work on...'Watch your cadence a little here. Let's pick up the pace on this hill. Slow it down a little here.'"

On The Horizon

The 17th annual Dani Bates Invitational hosted by Twin Falls takes place Friday at Sunway Complex. As of Sept. 15, 41 high school teams are registered.

The Eagle Island XC Invitational takes place Saturday at Eagle Island State Park. As of Sept. 15, 35 high school teams are registered. Community, junior high, freshman, JV and varsity divisions are available, similar to that of the annual Bob Firman Invitational that was canceled this year and has been relocated from Eagle Island to Spokane, Wash., starting next season.

Up north, the Les MacDowell Invite takes place Saturday at Lewis-Clark State College. As of Sept. 15, 19 high school teams are registered.

Idaho Falls, Lakeland, Coeur d'Alene Charter, Firth, Hillcrest, Lake City, Moscow, Sandpoint, Soda Springs, Sugar-Salem, Teton and Timberlake will represent Idaho at the annual Mountain West Classic on Saturday in Missoula. As of Sept. 15, 128 high school teams from around the Northwest are registered.

Coeur d'Alene will be competing this weekend at the 44th annual Woodbridge Classic in Great Park, California. The national caliber meet draws mostly California teams, but Coeur d'Alene is among numerous nationally ranked teams registered, which also include Air Academy (Colo.), Crater (Ore.) and Herriman (Utah).

This notebook will take a one-week hiatus and will return on Sept. 30.