Pete leads Cats to win, tie in first week
Hungry Horse News
Columbia Falls boys soccer coach Peter Browne pointed to his seniors before the season and said they'd have to provide leadership for the state runner-ups to succeed once more.
So far, so good.
Senior forward Cory Pete netted four goals in the first week as the Wildcats won their opener 5-0 against Livingston, tied Belgrade 2-2 and beat conference foe Bigfork 3-0.
Pete, the teams' leading scorer last year, scored twice and had an assist against Livingston, and was joined in the scoring column by senior defender Jake Bengtson, senior midfielder Guy Smith and junior forward Dustin Gibson. Sophomore forward D.J. Stoneman provided two assists, while Smith and junior defenseman Dennis Marceau had the other assists.
The defense was fierce, as goalkeeper Lee Kizer only had to make one save to preserve the shutout.
Head coach Peter Browne was pleased with the win, but thought the team didn't play to its potential.
"We had a lot of early nerves," he said. "We didn't play great but we were able to score some goals."
Against Belgrade, Pete continued his strong play with another goal, and the Cats also got a goal from Marceau.
The aggressive offense was tripped up by Belgrade's defense, but still managed to take 24 shots in the contest.
Browne said that the team played substantially better against Belgrade and that it was difficult to not come away with a win.
"I was a little disappointed, I was a little frustrated," he said. "We played great, we played much better than we did against Livingston."
The two Livingston goals came on a penalty kick and a direct kick, the team's only threatening shots. Browne said Columbia Falls, on the other hand, couldn't capitalize on its chances.
"We had our opportunities," he said. "It was frustrating."
Browne was able to take away some positives from the tie, however.
"That game's a great building block for us," he said. "It almost felt like a loss, but we spread the game out, we played much better in the back."
The Cats improved to 2-0-1 after defeating Bigfork 3-0 with goals from Pete, Bengtson and Branch.
Cross country running full steam
By JOHN VAN VLEET
Hungry Horse News
Dalvin Averill started his final cross country season with a bang.
The senior runner, in the first meet of the year, finished fifth overall among Class A runners at the Libby Invitational, running a 17:46.
Averill's finish was tops for the boys, as junior Brian Merseal finished eighth overall and first in the junior varsity race with an 18:07.
Junior Michael Taylor finished with a 19:14, and junior Tim McCracken came in at 19:20, good for 15th and 17th respectively.
Freshman Tripp Gimbel ran a 20:13 and freshman Jeremiah Howland a 21:57 in their first career races to round out the Wildcat runners.
Boys coach Richard Menicke was pleased with the overall performance.
"As a whole, our team had a great first race," he said. "There were real strong performances from those who did race."
Menicke praised Averill's time, but made sure to comment on the rest of the team as well.
"Brian Merseal ran a very strong fifth-place," he said. "He's going to be one of our leading varsity runners … Tim (McCracken) and Michael (Taylor) ran very sound first races."
Menicke also lauded the two freshman runners, noting that Howland took three minutes off his previous personal best time.
For the girls, sophomore Addie Houle was the top finisher, coming in 20th overall and fifth in junior varsity with a 23:42.
Coach Steve Gasche was pleased with Houle's run, noting that it was her first ever race.
"It was her first cross country race and I was pleased that she was able to emerge as one of our fastest runners," he said.
Senior Jessica Dedman was close on her heels with a 23:45, and sophomore Chelsey Marjerrison ran a 24:12.
Gasche pointed to Houle and Dedman as two runners that could provide a kick this season, with Marjerrison following closely.
"It tells me that the two of them will be a great one-two punch for our team," he said. "We have a good pack of three runners."
Senior Nellie Lutz ran a 25:43, sophomore Britney Mickelson a 25:51, freshman Nikki Elek a 26:02 and senior Dana Gross a 27:08.
Freshman Ashley Forman ran a 28:59, freshman Laura Burgi a 29:28, freshman Christal Forke a 34:21 and sophomore Danielle Dorman a 34:52 to finish out the Wildkat runners.
Gasche hopes that the girls will build upon this solid start.
"As the season progresses and our conditioning improves, I hope to see our times come down quite a bit," he said. "We're not quite there, but I think we have the potential to give it a shot."
Golfers tee off in first tourney'
The Columbia Falls High School golf team faced tough competition and a tricky course in the first invitational of the year at the Cabinet View Country Club in Libby last Thursday.
Whitefish boys paced the nine-team field with a score of 313, while Bigfork's 334 and Libby's 342 secured second and third. The Cats finished in eighth place with a team score of 396.
Sophomore Micah Jam led the Cats with a 96, followed by junior Bobby Pearce and senior Shawn MacNorius at 99. Senior Andrew Sweeney carded a 102 followed by junior Jacob Lutz at 107.
"This opening tournament gives us an early look at our conference and an idea of what it will take to make it to the state tournament," said Coach Gene Marcille. "We know our scores will come down, but we also see how tough our conference is."
The next competition for the team is this Friday at Ronan.
Thomson rides well
at Livingston rodeo
Columbia Falls High School junior Rachel Thomson was the lone rodeo team member to make the trip to the Livingston High School Rodeo this past weekend.
Saturday, Thomson placed seventh in pole bending and in Sunday's rodeo performance, she was able to improve in pole bending to finish in second place.
Running against tough barrel racing competition, her time was quick enough to win third place.
Members will now have a week off before competing at the Ronan High School Rodeos scheduled for Sept. 17.