Lady harriers hang with region's best

Whitefish Pilot

The Lady Bulldog cross-country team proved Saturday they can run with any team in the region.

The girls took third place in team standings at the highly competitive Mountain West Classic held at the University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula. The Lady Bulldogs finished behind three-time Class AA state champion Bozeman High School, and four-time 2A Washington champion Sehome High School, of Bellingham.

"It was another great performance from our runners," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said. "This was a complete team effort. With a field this talented and large, we needed everyone on the highest level to be competitive. With the meet being a week earlier than typical, I was worried that maybe we wouldn't be ready. Our young ladies really came to compete this weekend."

Jessica Sagen and Bailey Eaton led the team with their top-30 placings. Sagen finished in 24th and Eaton finished in 28th. Carly Schwickert followed in 47th, while teammates Jackie Cassidy (56th) and Stella Holt (59th) rounded out the team scoring. Anne Gustenhoff ran a personal-best to help displace other runners.

"We had a great team pack near the front of the race, and it really helped us out," Brist said. "This is a tough place to race, with the course narrowing. It takes a special kind of racer to be able to handle the fast starting pace, and then still have something left to be able to race for the remaining two miles. We were very excited to finish so well in such a competitive meet."

The boys team had a great showing as well, finishing in 25th place out of 46 complete teams. Mathias Komarek (111th) and Nathan Knox (129th) led the team, with Fisher Gangemi, Jace Kalbfleisch and Will Holdhusen also helping the team to their finishing position.

"There are a lot of great Washington programs that come to this meet," Brist said. "Add to that every AA team in the state, plus most of the top A, B and C classes, and then 25th begins to look pretty good. There were three Class A schools ahead of us, so we still have a ways to go, but were really happy with our performance."

The next meet for the Bulldogs will be at the Ronan Invitational, at the Silver Fox Golf Course in Pablo on Saturday.