Harriers strong against stacked field
<p>The Lady Bulldogs line up at the start of a race at Thompson Falls.</p>
The Whitefish High School cross country teams competed well last week against a stacked field at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula. The boys team finished in 16th position, while the girls team finished 32nd.
A total of 50 scoring teams, along with another dozen non-scoring teams filled the fields. More than 1,800 runners competed at the event to make it one of the largest cross country events in the Pacific Northwest.
For the boys it was Jace Kalbfleisch (22nd in 15:53) and Fischer Gangemi (24th in 15:55) leading the team once again. While Caleb Knox, (123 in 17:02), Keaton Grove (156 in 17:22) and Thomas Henson (163 in 17:24) rounded out the team scorers.
“Jace and Fischer both did an outstanding job today,” Whitefish coach Sara Brist said. “They have improved so much since last year. They were both over a minute faster than they were last fall, and that puts them right in with the elite level of high school runners in the Northwest. It’s was impressive to watch them compete today.
“Overall I thought our boys did a nice job. We know that we are right where we want to be with our best meets still in front of us. I think our guys feel that they can run with just about any team in our division, and that’s exactly what I want them to be thinking at this point of the season.”
For the Lady Bulldogs, Sarah Latcham, Payton Twete and Barrett Gray did the front running, while Autumn Fisher and Emma Marchetti finished up as the fourth and fifth scorers in the girls varsity race.
“The young ladies did a great job of mixing it up in a big field,” Brist said. “For most of our team it was the first time in the varsity race. It’s a tough field to run in because it goes out so fast, and the course narrows so quickly. Our strength is our packing, and that helped us out today.”
The next competition for the Bulldog cross country teams will be there home invitational on Saturday.
“It is an added treat that for the first time, our home invitational will be held on homecoming weekend,” Brist said. “We’re looking forward to have a great meet in front of our home fans on Saturday.”