Dogs take state in running, golf, tennis, track

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

For Whitefish sports fans, 2008 was another thrilling year. Whitefish High School had a fantastic year, with state champions in a wide range of sports.

Lady runners win state

Nobody could catch the Whitefish girls this year.

The Lady Bulldogs on Oct. 25 successfully defended their first-ever state championship cross country title from a year ago, posting a low score of 73 points to take another crown at the Missoula All Class Invitational meet on Saturday.

Five Whitefish girls placed in the top-15. Sophomore sensation Jackie Cassidy fought for first place all race but finished second overall in 18:53.

Bulldog golfers take state

The Whitefish High School boys golf team came home from Polson on Oct. 12 with another state championship trophy. The boys have won four of the last five team championships, hanging 11 banners on the wall.

The team romped over their closest competitor, Billings Central, by 30 strokes, while placing all five boys in the top-15 with All State designations.

Freshman Reed Platke finished second over all in the state tournament with two rounds over 76 at the Polson Bay Golf Course.

The Whitefish girls team took second place overall after winning state in 2007.

Coco goes undefeated

Whitefish cross country star Drew Coco had one of the best seasons in the history of Montana distance running, going undefeated on his way to a state title.

Four years of grueling work and dedication to a single goal finally paid off for Drew Coco. On Oct. 25, the senior battled windy conditions to claim the overall Class A boys state title at the all-class meet in Missoula.

Coco covered the hilly three-mile course in 15 minutes, 26 seconds. Although it was far from his personal best, his time was 18 seconds faster than any runner in any class that day.

Boys tennis champs

The Bulldogs were Montana Class A state tennis champs, sweeping both the singles and doubles finals.

Chilean powerhouse Renzo Caimi, a Whitefish exchange student, was the overall singles champion. Caimi never lost a set all year. Whitefish seniors Brendan Viscomi and Matt Harris clinched the state doubles trophy.

On the girls side, the highlight of the tournament for Whitefish was senior Brielle Menegazzi exacting revenge on Libby’s Jackie Mee in the consolation bracket. Mee had beaten Menegazzi one week earlier to take the divisional title, but the Lady Bulldog apparently learned from her mistakes. The Whitefish girls placed fifth overall.

Boys track win state

By a razor-thin margin of three points, the Bulldog boys track and field team edged out the Blue Devils of Corvallis to take home the Montana Class A state championship trophy from Bozeman on May 25.

It was sixth title for the Whitefish High School boys since 1997, a stretch of dominance unmatched by any other school in the state.

Junior high jumper Colt Idol’s winning leap of 6 feet 8.25 inches was a new school record. Whitefish junior Aaron Tkachyk was the state champion in the long jump, with a 21 foot 8.5 inch leap. Junior pole vaulter Kaleb Prestegaard cleared 13-6 and 13-0 to take second place overall.

For the girls, senior Ashley Ferda took the state title in the javelin with a throw of 125 feet 3 inches.

Glacier Prep All-Stars take state

The Glacier Prep All-Stars, the local age 13-year-old baseball squad, were Montana Babe Ruth state champions after rallying back from the loser bracket to defeat Bozeman 8-5 in extra innings on July 20 at Sapa-Johnsrud field in Columbia Falls.

It is not often that the stars align for a team to win it all while hosting a state tournament on their home turf, but that’s exactly what the local 13-year-olds accomplished.

Streak ends

All good things must end eventually. For the Whitefish boys soccer team, it ended Nov. 1 in Billings.

The two-time defending state champions fell to Billings Central 2-3 in the Class A soccer semifinal match, ending their unbelievable three-season undefeated run. It was the first loss for Whitefish in 44 games.

The tough part for the Bulldogs was that, by most accounts — and statistically — they out played  Billings. Whitefish had 28 shots on goal, and 16 were on frame, as opposed to just six on-frame shots for Billings.

Girls play in fourth consecutive title game

The Lady Bulldog soccer squad made another improbable and impressive run at the state title this year, entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed in their own conference, behind Libby.

They advanced to the title game, but on Nov. 1, the Whitefish girls had to settle for state champion runner-up status for the second year in a row.

The Whitefish girls suffered a rash of injuries to key players before and during the big game. This year’s seniors played in four consecutive state championship games, winning it in 2006.

‘Dogs stun ‘Cats

The best basketball game of the whole season took place Feb. 25 at Glacier High School gym — the tie-breaking match-up of the Northwest A divisional tournament between Whitefish and Columbia Falls. The winner would advance to the state tournament, the loser would go home for the year.

Columbia Falls had beaten Whitefish in both of the regular season meetings, so the ‘Dogs came into the game knowing they had to give it their all. Not surprisingly, the stands were packed with rowdy fans and belligerent student sections from both sides. Whitefish held off their cross-valley rivals 68-66 and the gym erupted.

Girls upset Libby

On Feb. 22, No. 3 Whitefish upset the No. 2 Lady Loggers 52-45 in a classic battle at the divisional basketball tournament, punching a ticket to the big state tourney dance.

The Whitefish vs. Libby rivalry was hot all season, as the teams split their regular season showdowns, both with home wins.

Libby took a 40-39 lead late in the third quarter, but senior guard Ashley Ferda made them pay for their focus on defending the lanes. She went 6-for-7 from three-point range to put the nail in the coffin for Libby.

The Whitefish girls went on to get a big one-point win over Dillon in the state tournament in Hamilton, eventually placing second in the consolation bracket.