Harriers run strong at Missoula
The Whitefish cross-country teams had a great competition on Sept. 26 at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula. One of the premier meets in the Pacific Northwest, it attracts more than 1,200 runners from Montana, Washington and Idaho.
"They do a great job hosting a fantastic competition," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said. "The meet is about 10 times tougher than our state meet, so it's always fun to see how we do against the best teams from Montana and Washington."
Brist said the Whitefish girls had a great meet.
"Their fifth-place team finish kind of caught me by surprise," he said. "We felt that a top-10 finish would have been a solid placing for us. The girls did a great job of competing. I was proud of the entire team's effort. They are coming along nicely."
Bailey Eaton, Jessica Sagen and Loni Hanson led the Lady Bulldogs by placing 24th, 27th and 32nd overall. Hannah Weaver (82nd) and Carly Schwicket (95th) rounded out the team scoring.
"Our top three ran very well," Brist said. "It's a tough field to run through. The pace goes out too fast, so it's easy to get caught up in the momentum. Bailey, Jessica and Loni are in good enough shape to handle it, thus they were rewarded with high placings."
Weaver and Schwicket also ran great, he said, and both are really coming along. They're running with some of the best in Class A right now, and he expected continued improvement all the way to the state meet.
"We'll need to continue with the development of our sixth, seventh and eighth runners (Liz Stevenson, Anne Miller and Nicole Birk) to really be ready for the important meets at the end of the season," Brist said, "but I feel really good about our position right now."
Brist noted that the Lady Bulldogs have yet to see the Glendive girls, who may pose the toughest challenge of the season.
"I think that if we can stay healthy, we'll have a good shot at reaching our season goals," he said.
The Whitefish boys also had a nice meet in Missoula, finishing 39th in the overall team standings and 10th among Class A schools.
"The boys did a good job of running in the large field," Brist said. "There were nearly 400 runners in the varsity race. That's a lot of runners to work past. It's easy to get caught in the pack for the first mile, but they were able to work their way out by the halfway point."
The Bulldogs were led by Nathan Knox and Jace Kalbfleisch (138th and 170th). Freshman Fischer Gangemi finished as the third Bulldog runner with a time of 18:29.
"Nearly our entire boys team ran personal bests," Brist said. "That's what you like to see at a big meet like this one."
Brist noted a couple teams are just in front of Whitefish, and he'd like to catch them by the end of the season.
"I feel really good about these young men and their performances," he said. "They're doing what they need to do to be successful this season."
Mountain West Classic
University of Montana Golf Course
Girls varsity teams
2. Bozeman 101
3. Billings West 223
4. Billings Senior 249
5. Whitefish 260
23. Columbia Falls 714
24. Hamilton 720
27. Browning 846
29. Lewistown 874
31. Polson 915
32. Hardin 938
33. Anaconda 971
35. Belgrade 1,062
36. Havre 1,087
37. Miles City 1,103
39. Dillon 1,151
41. Ronan 1,333
Girls individual varsity
24. Bailey Eaton, 19:21
27. Jessica Sagen, 19:31
32. Loni Hanson, 19:38
82. Hannah Weaver, 20:36
95. Carly Schwickert, 20:49
194.Liz Stevenson, 22:10
214. Anne Miller, 22:32
Girls individual JV
37. Nicole Birk, 22:11
302. Katrina Brown, 29:01
309. Justine Dugdale, 29:27
316. Haley Hill, 30:11
Boys varsity teams
5. Flathead 259
14. Columbia Falls 506
19. Laurel 626
23. Browning 685
24. Lewistown 690
30. Frenchtown 787
33. Corvallis 882
34. Polson 893
37. Belgrade 1,007
38. Havre 1,017
39. Whitefish 1,079
42. Ronan 1,221
43. Dillon 1,224
44. Hamilton 1,265
46. Hardin 1,328
47. Anaconda 1,329
48. Libby 1,377
Boys individual varsity
138. Nathan Knox, 17:30
170. Jace Kalbfleisch, 17:48
236. Fischer Gangemi, 18:29
263. Baxter Graham, 18:49
272. Chris Reyna, 18:55
277. Will Holdhusen, 18:59
332. Francisco Valle, 19:53
Boys individual JV
288. Dietrich Perchy, 20:59
290. Matt Kennedy, 21:02
294. Spencer Hale, 21:06
313. Peter Seymour, 21:29
350. Matt Kennedy, 22:06
380. Jon Jacobs, 22:41
395. Zach Blumhardt, 23:06
433. Adam Negri, 28:08