Harriers run well at Flathead Invite

Shawn Whitman earned 11th place, leading Columbia Falls to seventh place in the varsity boys division of the Flathead Invitational on Saturday at the Kidsport Complex in Kalispell. The Wildcats were the second best Class A team, beaten only by Hamilton.

Whitman had a time of 17:24 in the 139-athlete cross country race, achieving his goal to finish in the top 15, according to CFHS coach Stephen Gasche. Tripp Gimbel placed 33rd and Patric Jessat was 44th. They were the sixth and seventh fastest finishers from the Northwest A Conference. Michael Kruse was 63rd and Tim Chopper was 78th.

"I could not be more proud of them," Gasche said. "We know Browning will also be a team we have to watch out for but today our boys got the job done."

It was a hot day on a course with three significant hills.

"It was not the best circumstances for competition but our athletes had a good day," Gasche said.

Missoula Hellgate took the varsity boys team title with 72 points. Missoula Sentinel was second with 112.

Nikki Elek was our lone varsity runner for the day for the Wildkats. She placed 82nd out of 125 athletes. Whitefish won the team crown with 71 points. Hellgate was runner-up with 87.

CFHS' JV girls had another great day, placing second among 13 teams, behind only Missoula Hellgate — making the Kats the best Class A team at the meet. Leesa Benner led the Kats, earning third, and Jinise Osborne was seventh among 135 athletes.

"They are looking very strong and running with confidence," Gasche said.

Tessa Cowan, in her season debut, was 17th. Dannah Turner, Madison Stolte and Alexas Young were in close contention placing 20th, 22nd and 25th, respectively.

Those six JV runners had the fastest times for the Kats, and Young improved her time on a demanding course.

"This is a JV team showing great promise for the future," Gasche said.

The CFHS junior varsity boys finished fifth out of 13 teams, the second best Class A team in the race behind Browning. Justin Whitman and Pascal Jessat led the charge placing ninth and 11th, respectively. Joe Gross was 29th, Jacob Silva 47th and Coby Hutchens 60th, all running well, according to Gasche. Alex Peterson was the only Cat boy to run a season-best time on the difficult course.

Next for the CFHS cross country teams is the Ronan Invitational today (Thursday). The meet was originally scheduled for Saturday. The junior high races start at 12:30 p.m. with high school races to follow. The order will be girls JV, boys JV, girls varsity and boys varsity.

CFHS will field a varsity girls team for the first time this season with the addition of several of the younger runners, according to Gasche.

"It will be fun to see how the younger athletes do in varsity action," the coach said.

Other high school teams competing will be Arlee, Bigfork, Darby, Hamilton, Libby, Lincoln County, Polson, Ronan, Thompson Falls, Two Eagle River, Valley Christian, Whitefish, Frenchtown and Corvallis.

Golfers third at Meadow Lake

The Columbia Falls boys golf team took third at the Columbia Falls Invitational on Tuesday at the Meadow Lake Golf Club. Tanner Lineberry was third with an 84 to lead the Wildcats.

Whitefish won the meet and Tyler Engrebretson of Polson shot an 80 to take medalist honors.

The Columbia Falls girls didn't finish in the top 10. Their scores weren't immediately available.

Columbia Falls finished third in the boys division of the West Glacier Junior Varsity Golf Tournament held last Thursday at Glacier View Golf Course.

The CFHS girls had only three players, but Kelsey DeWit earned fourth place with a 102. Olivia Williams carded a 122, and Ketti Wilhelm shot a 138.

Nolan Emerson shot an 85 for ninth place to lead the Wildcat JV boys. Mike Cotton tied for 10th with an 86. Ian Gordon shot 91, and Jake Ronish and Taylor Hopkins both had 93 to round out the team scoring.