Four-peat

The results at state have never been better for the Bulldog cross-country teams. The Whitefish girls earned their fourth consecutive Class A state title Saturday at Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena, while the boys tallied their best result in school history with a second-place finish.

Jessica Sagen and Carly Schwickert led the girls team with fifth- and sixth-place runs, both in a time of 19:33. Stella Holt took 11th, and Jackie Cassidy grabbed 13th. Each of the runners were awarded with All State status for their finishes.

Bailey Eaton, meanwhile, finished in 45th place after dramatically crawling across the finish line after she collapsed in the home stretch. Eaton had been leading the group at the two-mile mark but ran into trouble in the final 200 meters of the race.

“Bailey came into my view with only 50 meters to go,” Whitefish coach Bill Brist explained. “She was weaving as she attempted to reach the finish line. It looked like she couldn’t control her right leg. She’d try to run forward, lose her balance and fall to the ground. Then she would pick herself up, grab a breath, and try to go forward again.”

She did this three times as she slowly made her way to the finish area. It took her nearly two minutes to cover the distance that would normally take her 35 seconds. In that time, runners kept going past.

“The entire mass of spectators were urging her on,” Brist said, “as well as her teammates in the finish area. I knew that if she could make it across that finish line, they still might win the state team title. I also knew that if she gave up or passed out completely, they wouldn’t reach their team goal. It was all up to her at that point, and she didn’t let her teammates down.”

After Eaton’s final fall, she got up on her hands and knees and crawled the final five feet to the finish line and collapsed.

“It was an amazing spectacle,” Brist said. “I felt so bad for her to go through such an ordeal, yet I felt amazed that she kept getting back up after each fall.”

Eaton finished in 45th position in 21:26, more than two minutes off her typical finish for the distance. Yet, it was enough for the Lady Bulldogs to win the state team championship.

Anne Gustenhoff (78th) and Emma Marchetti (88th) rounded out the team finishes.

“I was very pleased with how all of the girls performed,” Brist said. “I was also relieved when I found out that they had won. It was a much tougher victory than we expected. It looked like we were in control prior to the finish stretch. It just goes to show, the race isn’t over until all the runners pass that finish line.”

Brist praised the four seniors — Schwickert, Holt, Cassidy and Eaton.

“They’ve had a heck of a career for us,” he said. “In the past four years, they’ve been a big part of the success of this program. The fact that they could finish it up undefeated against Class A competition for that entire time is simply amazing. We will miss these seniors next season.”

With the improvement made this season by younger runners like Emma Marchetti, Maya Gordon, Torrey Coe and Samantha Eason, the Lady Bulldogs show the potential to be competitive for years to come.

The boys team came to the meet with high goals of their own. After watching the girls win four in a row, it was their turn to try. They came close, taking second with 124 points. Corvallis had a fantastic meet and won the title with a low score of 81 points. Belgrade ended up in third, just one point behind the Whitefish team.

The second place earned by Nathan Knox (12th), Fischer Gangemi (13th), Mathias Komarek (19th), Jace Kalbfleisch (24th) and Jeffrey Heinrichs (56th) is the highest finish ever for Whitefish’s boys cross-country program. There have been three different third-place finishes in the past, but never higher.

Nathan and Fischer earned All State Honors with their finishes.

“They all ran great,” Brist said. “The sun came out for the Class A race, and it heated up quickly. Every one of our guys had the confidence to keep their cool on the super-quick first mile, and then came back strong in the second mile to work their way back into trophy contention. I was very impressed with their ability to move through the field.”

Will Holdhusen (64th) and Dietrich Perchy (96th) both ran strong races to help the team effort.

The boys finished 13th at state last season.

“For them to complete such a dramatic turnabout is such a short time is fantastic,” Brist said. I think that this team has jump started the boys program.”

With Gangemi, Kalbfleisch and Holdhusen all coming back next season, along with Elias Taylor, Tanner Brock, Spencer Hale, Henry Holt and Caleb Knox, the program has a solid base to build upon.

“I think the boys would love to reach that top spot,” Brist said. “They’ve had the opportunity to watch what it takes to win a state title from our girls team. I think they would agree that it’s time for them to reach for that final step. Of course, there are several other teams that have that same goal.”