Harriers post good times in rain against tough rivals

Never mind the rain and cold — competition at the Kalispell Invitational on Saturday was tough.

Besides defending AA Champion Kalispell, there were also teams from Mt. Spokane and North Central (Spokane), the defending A champion Browning team, the State B Champion boys and girls squads from Missoula Loyola, and the State A runner-ups for both boys and girls, Ronan.

In the end, Whitefish High School came out with a great showing in both the boys and girls races, on both the varsity and junior varsity level.

The Lady Bulldogs were led by Anne Danczyk. Freshman Beth Donovan continued her excellent running by finishing close behind. Sophomore Clare Miller was right there as well. The three-some gave the team a boost by finishing so high in this strong of a field.

"What's really exciting is that juniors Cassie Schell and Janna Rozar have consistently shown the ability to run with the front trio," said coach Bill Brist. "I'm really looking forward to seeing these five all run in the same meet when they all round into speed shape."

Carly Hendrix and Megan Shaver, both freshmen, led the second seven (junior varsity).

"Both are just starting to see what they can do with their running," Brist said. "I'm certain that as they continue through the season, we'll see them continue to move up closer to our top group."

The boys had a great outing as well. Last season, three members broke 20 minutes on the notoriously tough and slow Kalispell course. This season the list included all of the members of the varsity and a couple of the JV.

Ian Mallams was back in the line-up after missing the previous meet with the flu. He raced well as he led the team with his 25th-place finish. He was backed up by Erik Anderson and Drew Coco.

"Erik and Drew are starting to see that they can run with some of the better runners in these early races," Brist said. "As their confidence continues to grow, I'm sure we'll see them move up a bit closer to Ian. That's even more impressive, as I'm certain that Ian will continue to get faster, as well."

The battle for the remainder of the varsity spots seems to be a battle between the next seven or eight runners on the team. It's this inner-team rivalry that will help to move them up closer to the top-three and will eventually decide just how competitive the team will become.

"What's really great is the group following this one. Pat McGonagle, Jon Cameron, Dylan Rice and Joey Guerri — all freshman and sophomores — are really learning how to race, and it will be interesting to see which of them will try to make the move into the top seven," Brist said.

Girls varsity results — Whitefish, seventh, 180 total; 20, Anne Danczyk, 21:10; 26, Beth Donovan, 21:32; 28, Clare Miller, 21:43; 64, Janna Rozar, 23:00; 74, Lauren Kuennen, 23:43; 75, Loie Russell-Kuennen, 23:46; 93, Stephanie Woodbeck, 26:03.

Boys varsity results — Whitefish, 12th, 290 total; 25, Ian Mallams, 17:06; 55, Erik Anderson, 18:04; 56, Drew Coco, 18:12; 70, Jacob Fern, 18:43; 90, Nick Donovan, 19:21; 95, Daniel Holland, 19:32; 102, Austin Troiano, 19:51.

Girls JV results — Whitefish, sixth, 141 total; 17, Carly Hendrix, 24:14; 25, Megan Shaver, 25:08; 36, Holly Cullen, 25:36; 63, Mary Kohnstamm, 28:34; 66, Danielle Rogers, 29:24.

Boys JV results — Whitefish, eighth, 249 total; 45, Joseph Alexander,19:25; 49, Michael Harrison, 19:38; 66, Patrick McGonagle, 20:10; 67, Jon Cameron, 20:11; 72, Dylon Rice, 20:16; 75, Joey Guerri, 20:20; 110, Jared Barton, 22:11; 117. Brandon Karschnik, 22:37; 122, Dan Gibbs, 22:45; 126, Luke Knight, 23:03; 142, Gentry Darkenwald, 24:14; 153, Erik Swanson, 26:52.