X-C team runs first race

The Bigfork cross-country team had its first outing of the season Friday when it competed in the Libby Invitational.

Sophomore Chelsea Olson had the best placing of any Bigfork runner. She finished 16th among the girls with a time of 22:33.95.

Bigfork senior Evan Jordt was the fastest local runner. With a time of 17:54.49, he placed 17th among the boys. Spencer Jenko, also a Bigfork senior, completed the course in 19:08.84 to place 24th.

Lane Thole, a sophomore from Bigfork, competed as a junior varsity runner and finished in 21:23.

"Everyone who ran this course last year improved their time," said Bigfork head cross-country coach Sue Loeffler. "I was impressed with everyone's performance."

Freshman Jesse Mueller, newcomer sophomore Collin Kavangh and Oregon transfer student Jacob Parmenter, a senior, were unable to compete Friday.

Neither the Bigfork boys or girls had enough participants to be counted as a team at the meet, which included five schools from Western Montana and two from Idaho.

Among those teams that did have enough runners to score as a team, Sandpoint High School from Idaho took first for the boys with 26 points and Glacier was second with 48. Lakeland High School, also out of Idaho, finished third with 106, Libby was fourth with 132 and Eureka earned 181 points for fifth.

In the girls race, it was Whitefish's team that came out on top with 22 points. Glacier followed with 38 and Sandpoint took third with 68. No other girls teams had enough competitors to be scored.

Glacier's Troy Fraley won the meet on the boys' side with a time of 16:02.76 and Heather Fraley, also from Glacier, won it for the girls with a time of 18:57.91.

Eureka was the only Class B school at the meet from Montana beside Bigfork. Its best placing was done by Baily Malecha, who finished 17th among the girls with a time of 22:58.43. Levi Sturdevant had the best finish among the Eureka boys. He finished 28th in 19:24.97.

Up next for Bigfork is the Flathead Invite in Kalispell on Saturday, Sept. 11, and Loeffler said her team will be ready.

"I feel conditioning-wise we are right where we need to be for this time in the season," she said.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

The Libby invite was also the first race of the year for the Bigfork Middle School cross-country team, and it proved to be a memorable one. Bigfork swept the top three places on the girls' side and took first among the boys. Makena Morely's time of 8:22 earned her first place, Mattison McAnnally took second in 10:36, Zoe Zander place third in 10:51. For the boys, Logan Morley completed the course in 8:37 to take first.Also running for Bigfork was Hailey Nissan, who finished in 12:53, George Gibson, who was clocked at 10:53, and Logan Wallace, who had a time of 13:01.