Bulldog harriers split dual with Frenchtown Broncs
The Whitefish High School cross-country teams tuned up for the upcoming Northwestern A Championships by splitting a dual meet against Southwestern A opponent Frenchtown on Saturday. The Lady Bulldogs won, 17-40, while the boys narrowly lost, 27-29.
"The dual meet is kind of a forgotten competition in cross country," said coach Bill Brist. "It was popular back in the '70s and '80s, but has lost favor in comparison to the huge multi-team invitational meet."
Brist also said he really wanted to have a home meet this year.
"I felt the kids deserved it," he said. "They've worked hard at becoming a respected program, and I felt that they were worth the extra effort in hosting a meet here in Whitefish."
Bulldogs Beth Donovan and Clare Miller went right into the lead, with both pressing the pace, surprising the Frenchtown girls. At the mile mark, Whitefish looked solidly in command as they passed in the 1-2, and 4-5 positions.
"I could tell the girls were a lot fresher this morning, as they had the opportunity to sleep in as opposed to getting up at 4:30 a.m. to board a bus," Brist said.
Donovan took first place with 19:47.
"She pretty much did that on her own," Brist said. "That's pretty impressive for a freshman."
Miller took second place with a personal best time of 20:23. The team victory was sealed when Lauren Kuennen swept past Frenchtown's number one runner in the final half mile to finish third with a time of 21:16.
"Lauren had a fantastic day," Brist said. "Her improvement this season has been very motivating to watch."
Rounding out the top five for the Lady Dogs were Janna Rozar (fifth in 21:38) and Loie Russell-Templeton (sixth in 21:50).
For the boys, Frenchtown's Chris Bick went right into the lead. Bick placed third at the state championship meet last fall, so it wasn't a surprise for us to see him setting the pace, Brist said.
"The surprising part was that our number one and two runners, Ian Mallams and freshman Drew Coco were so close," Brist said.
Mallams and Coco were within 11 seconds at the two-mile marker and held the distance to the finish.
Coco set his sights on running up front as well. At two miles, he was within a stride of Mallams, and his strong last mile insured him a good time (16:27) and a third-place finish in the meet.
"This boy's team seems to be really coming along," Brist said. "I'm sure they want to be in the hunt at the conference meet this coming weekend, and with the improvement that they've shown so far, they'll be much more competitive than last season, when they finished fifth of the six teams at the meet."
Girls results — 1, Beth Donovan, 19:47; 2, Clare Miller, 20:23; 3, Lauren Kuennen, 21:16; 5, Janna Rozar, 21:38; 6, Loie Russell-Templeton, 21:50; 9, Natalie Kearns, 22:09; 13, Megan Shaver, 23:07; 18, Ashley Hustwaite, 25:01; 19, Mary Kohnstamm, 25:01; 20, Danielle Rogers, 25:20; 21, Stephanie Woodbeck, 25:42; 22, Holly Cullen, 27:47; 24, Cassie Shell, 48:24.
Boys results — 2, Ian Mallams, 16:11; 3, Drew Coco, 16:22; 7, Jacob Fern, 17:39; 8, Joseph Alexander, 17:51; 9, Kellen Bodily, 17:55; 10, Blake Bjornson, 17:56; 12, Austin Troiano, 18:01; 14, Nick Donovan, 18:06; 15, Michael Harrison, 18:18; 17, Dylan Rice, 18:42; 19, Joey Guerri, 18:48; 20, Jon Cameron, 18:48; 22, Pat McGunagle, 19:18; 27, Shane Hanson, 20:57; 28, Luke Knight, 21:27; 29, Gentry Darkenwald, 21:55; 30, Erik Swanson, 23:21.