ORDER GAME PHOTOS

The last weekend of October has arrived, and with it the chance to end the high school cross country season with medals and trophies at the state championships.

The colors of the leaves certainly indicate that fall is in full force, but Saturday's forecast for Pocatello is going to feel a bit more like winter with highs in the 30s and possible 25 mile per hour winds.

Here are the storylines to watch for Saturday's cross country state championships at Portneuf Wellness Complex in Pocatello.

Class 5A

The Boise girls are five-time defending 5A state champions and two-time defending 5A boys state champion Rocky Mountain has won five of the last seven state titles. Title defense will be a challenge for both programs this year.

The Coeur d'Alene boys, who have been nationally ranked by DyeStat all season and were No. 9 in the U.S. boys rankings released Oct. 26, have put together a historic season thus far, winning every meet on their schedule including the Mountain West Classic in September in Missoula, Battle for the 509 in Spokane and becoming the first Idaho team to ever win the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational in Lakewood, Wash. Additionally, Coeur d'Alene senior Lachlan May, junior Max Cervi-Skinner, senior Jacob King, freshman Wyatt Carr and sophomore Mitchell Rietze are the fastest group of five of any boys team of any classification in Idaho. The Vikings won the 5A District 1-2 championships with a perfect score of 15, bringing their top seven runners across the finish line in order and junior Kyle Rohlinger getting the individual win. Coeur d'Alene's last boys cross country state championship was in 2011.

Expect District 3's Rocky Mountain, Boise and Mountain View to also be in the mix on Saturday. Rocky Mountain senior Landon Heemeyer is defending 5A individual state champion and has won four meets so far this season, running a season best 15:12.9 at last month's Bob Firman Invitational for fourth place. May's personal best 15:00.4 leads Idaho for all classifications right now and teammate Max Cervi-Skinner is right behind him with his season best 15:02.4. Also in contention for the individual crown is Meridian junior Nate Stadtlander, who has won five races, placed fifth at Bob Firman and has a personal best 15:03.1 and Coeur d'Alene senior Jacob King, who has a personal best 15:13 and was second at the 5A District 1-2 championships.

The Boise girls placed second to Rocky Mountain by two points at last week's 5A District 3 championships, getting an individual district title from sophomore Audrey Orme. The Brave were without senior Samantha Smith, who is currently playing with the U-19 U.S. women's soccer team at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, for the remainder of this month, with semifinals scheduled for Tuesday and bronze and gold medal matches taking place Nov. 3. Smith, a Stanford soccer commit who played in the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup in India last year, has competed in soccer and cross country simultaneously all four years at Boise and medaled at the last three cross country state championships, including winning the individual title as a freshman. Smith ran in two meets this season, and the Brave have won three meets she did not compete in, including winning the Nike Twilight Invitational at Marysville, Wash. With competition from fellow District 3 teams Rocky Mountain, Timberline and Mountain View and newly crowned District 6 champion Thunder Ridge, expect the 5A girls team title race to be a tight battle.

Orme owns the fastest 5A girls time in Idaho this season, a personal best 17:44, and she has broken 18 minutes three times this fall. She has placed in the top five in every race she has competed in this season, including placing second at last month's Bob Firman Invitational. Joining Orme in contention for the 5A girls individual title are Boise teammate Allie Bruce, a senior and the 2021 individual state champion who has a season best time of 17:49.4, Meridian junior Paisley Taylor (season best 17:52.2, ninth place at Bob Firman), Timberline freshman Ruby Ihmels (season best 17:55.9, 13th place at Bob Firman, ninth at Nike Hole in the Wall) and Owyhee junior Faith Johnson (season best 18:12.1, sixth place at Bob Firman, four wins this season).

Class 4A

The 4A girls meet has history on the line Saturday.

Skyline senior Nelah Roberts, the three-time defending 4A individual state champion, will attempt to become Idaho's first four-time girls individual cross country state champion for any classification. She ran a personal best 17:21.1 to win her third consecutive 4A District 6 individual title last week in Idaho Falls, which lowered her all-time eastern Idaho best girls 5k time and further separated her as the fastest in Idaho for any classification this season. Roberts has broken 18 minutes twice this season (and is the only 4A girl to have broken 18 this season), placed fourth at Nike Hole in the Wall and eighth at Bob Firman.

"I've not even peaked yet," Roberts said after running a personal best to win districts last week. "It's a super cool moment."

Two-time defending champion Preston, No. 5 in DyeStat's Oct. 19 Northwest Regional girls team rankings, is heavily favored to make it a three-peat Saturday. Seven Preston girls currently own times in the top 17 in 4A in Idaho. Preston won last week's 4A District 5 championship with a perfect score and claiming the top eight individual finishes, and won the Battle for the 509 on Sept. 30 in Spokane. The only Idaho teams to beat Preston this season are all 5A: Boise, Thunder Ridge, Rocky Mountain and Timberline. Junior Ashley Scott (personal best 18:47.8) and senior Maren Leffler (season best 18:59) have traded off as No. 1 runner this season. District 4 champion Twin Falls, District 1-2 runner-up Moscow and District 6 champion Skyline are all teams to watch for trophy contention, while Preston's Scott and Leffler, Twin Falls freshman Raelee Richardson and senior Saylor Erickson and Idaho Falls sophomore Jaycee Jensen are runners to keep an eye on for top finishes.

Defending 4A boys team champion Bishop Kelly, which won last week's 4A District 3 title by a 49-point margin, has had solid performances all season. Bishop Kelly has five runners whose season's fastest times are currently top 20 in Idaho in 4A. The only Idaho 4A team to beat the Knights so far this season is defending state runner-up Idaho Falls, which will be Bishop Kelly's biggest challenger for Saturday's team title. Other teams in contention are District 4 champion Burley, District 4 runner-up Twin Falls and District 1-2 champion Sandpoint.

The boys individual title will up for grabs this year as defending champion Matt Thomas of Blackfoot graduated and is now at Oklahoma State. Bishop Kelly senior Charlie Goss has the fastest personal best in 4A this season (15:36.5), followed by Idaho Falls senior Luke Athay's season best 15:55.6 and Sandpoint senior Nathan Roche's personal best 15:57.1. All three of these boys won individual district titles last week.

Class 3A

For the first time since 2013, Sugar-Salem will not be sending both boys and girls teams to state. The defending 3A state champion Sugar-Salem girls have returned to state after winning a seventh consecutive 3A District 6 title last week and currently have had a competitive season especially against other 3A programs. The Diggers are led by freshman Janyja Jackson (personal best 19:18.7), who placed second at districts, and junior Hailey Dalling (season best 20:44.7. Their biggest competition will be from Snake River, which placed second at state last year and won state over Sugar-Salem in 2021. Each of the last two state meets came down to single-digit margins and could indeed happen again tomorrow. Snake River currently has three runners whose fastest times are in the top 20 in 3A in Idaho while Sugar-Salem has two. Anticipate Teton, Weiser and District 1-2 champion Timberlake to also be in trophy contention.

Coeur d'Alene Charter has a great chance of keeping the girls individual title for a third consecutive season. Two-time defending champ McKenna Kozeluh, now at Idaho, graduated, but sophomore and newly crowned 3A District 1-2 champion Annabelle Carr leads 3A with a personal best 18:31.2. Giving her chase will be District 6 champion and South Fremont senior Sage Lyon (personal best 19:06.5), Timberlake sophomore Vanessa McLachlan (personal best 19:07.5) and Sugar-Salem's Jackson.

The Sugar-Salem boys' nine-year streak of qualifying a team for the 3A state meet was snapped at a wild 3A District 6 meet last week. South Fremont, which won the varsity Division II boys team title at last month's Bob Firman Invitational, won its first district championship since 2007 last week and is in great position to add to its hisotric season Saturday. The Cougars currently have five runners whose personal best times are in the top 20 in Idaho in 3A, the most of any team. South Fremont has never won a state championship in cross country. Kimberly is defending team champion and currently has the top 3A time in Idaho with junior Ben Browning's personal best 15:43. Defending individual champion and senior Jacob Barnhart of Timberlake returns with a season best 15:55.1, and right behind him is freshman teammate Caleb Boyce (personal best 15:56.7). Watch out for District 6 individual champion, Teton junior Zane Lindquist (season best 16:05.5), and Coeur d'Alene Charter senior Nathan Russell (personal best 16:07). Teton and District 1-2 champion Timberlake will be in the trophy hunt as well.

Class 2A

District 5 claimed two blue trophies in 2A last year as the West Side boys and Soda Springs girls took the titles. The boys side looks a bit different this year with new contenders in the mix. District 3 has performed especially well this season, and last week's District 3 championship meet provided an insight into how deep the district is. Nampa Christian won the district title by seven points over Cole Valley Christian, which took second by eight points over North Star Charter. Expect all three to be in trophy contention Saturday. Nampa Christian currently has three runners whose personal or season best times are in the top 20 in 2A in Idaho while North Star Charter has four and Cole Valley has two. There is no record of a state championship in boys cross country for any of these three schools. District 5 champion Malad and District 6 champion North Fremont should also be in trophy contention.

Defending individual state champion Corbin Johnston, a North Fremont junior, returns. He currently has the second fastest 2A boys time in Idaho (season best 16:04.3) and has not lost versus 2A competition this fall. North Star Charter, currently in its second season at 2A, has the fastest 2A time in Idaho with junior Everett Metier (personal best 15:49.). Firth senior Levi Robbins (personal best 16:20.4), Kellogg senior Makai Peak (season best 16:26) and Nampa Christian senior Chase Dawson (personal best 16:26.2) will give chase to Johnston and Metier.

Soda Springs only had one senior among its seven state runners last year, and its biggest competition for the girls state title tomorrow will be a team that had all underclassmen at state last year: Ririe.  The Bulldogs, who placed second last year, have won all but one meet this season including claiming the varsity Division II title at Bob Firman. The only team to beat the Bulldogs so far this season is 5A District 5-6 champion Thunder Ridge. Ririe currently has four runners whose personal best or season best times are in the top 20 in 2A in Idaho while Soda Springs has five. If both teams run their best Saturday, the margin between first and second place will be tight.

"We've been working a lot harder and we're more serious this year," said Ririe sophomore Lucy Boone during Wednesday's practice.

District 6 currently owns the top three fastest 2A girls times in Idaho, and the individual girls state title is wide open upon the graduation of two-time defending champion Cameron Moore. West Jefferson freshman Bella Spencer has been on a tear. She is undefeated versus 2A competition and so far is the only 2A girl this season to break 19 minutes (personal best 18:46.4). Right behind her are Firth junior Kynzie Nielson (season best 19:14.8) and Ririe's Lucy Boone (season best 19:37.7). Declo senior Olivia Wilson (personal best 19:39) and Soda Springs junior Lizzie Beutler (season best 19:39.2) will also be runners to watch.

Firth, District 3 champion Nampa Christian, Malad and District 4 champion Declo will be in contention for trophies.

Class 1A

Two-time defending 1A boys state champion Victory Charter is going after a three-peat Saturday. The Vipers will also be looking to keep the individual title for another year as they have the fastest 1A boy in Idaho in Luke Stockett, a senior with a personal best 15:26, four wins and a seventh place finish in the Bob Firman elite race. Giving chase to the Vipers for the team title will be District 5 champion Rockland, last year's second-place team, Grace (also from District 5 and last year's third place team) and Logos (District 1-2 champion). Victory Charter currently has four runners whose personal best or season best times are in the top 20 in 1A in Idaho while Rockland has three and Grace and Logos each have two. Logos has won state three times previously, most recently in 2016, but  there is no record of a boys cross country state championship for Rockland or Grace.

In contention with Stockett for the individual title will be Tri-Valley sophomore Wyatt Stiff (personal best 15:46.1), Challis senior Garrett Hunt (season best 16:13) and Rockland teammates Ezra Hubbard (senior, season best 16:22.8) and Hayden Smith (junior, 16:33.8).

Two teams familiar with each other are poised to battle it out for the 1A girls team title: defending state champion Raft River and defending state runner-up Logos. Raft River and Logos each have three runners whose personal best or season best times are currently in the to 20 in 1A in Idaho. They also own the top three times in 1A: Logos senior Sara Casebolt (personal best 18:34), Raft River senior and two-time defending individual state champion Allie Black (season best 19:17.9) and Logos junior Mari Calene (season best 19:44.9). Black has won four races and Casebolt has won five. Look for Greenleaf Friends junior Anna Dixon (season best 20:03.3) and Victory Charter freshman Libby Stockett (personal best 20:05.2) to also give chase. District 3 champion Victory Charter and District 5 champion Grace should also be in the trophy hunt.