Butte High sophomore cross country runners Camden Houchin and Olivia Thurmond are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.

The honors come after the Bulldogs opened the season with strong showings as the Flathead Invitational Friday. The meet included most of the Class AA schools as well as many Class A and Class B teams.

Houchin receives the boys’ honor after finishing the 5-kilometer race in 17 minutes, 6 seconds to place 34th in the large field. He beat his personal record by 31 seconds. Houchin also competes in wrestling and track for the Bulldogs.

Thurmond takes home the girls’ honor. She led the Bulldog girls with a time of 24:34. One week into the season, and Thurmond is already beating times from midseason a year ago. Thurmond also competes in swimming for Butte High. She earned Athlete of the Week honors in the pool back in January.

Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, teamed up with the ButteCast to honor the finest athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.

Photos of Houchin and Thurmond are courtesy Ashley Choquette Photography.