Boys win divisional XC title

Whitefish’s boys cross country team grabbed their third consecutive Northwestern A divisional title last weekend behind an overall dominate performance. The Bulldogs placed six runners in the top-10 at the championship event held at the King Ranch Course at Frenchtown.

Jace Kalbfleisch was the overall winner with a time of 15:28.1, just ahead of teammate Fischer Gangemi who finished in second place with a time of 15:28.4.

Maybe more impressive was the finish of the rest of the team with Caleb Knox (5th in 16:24), Keaton Grove (6th in 16:33), Waylon Roberts (8th in 16:50), and Thomas Henson (9th in 16:54). These six Bulldogs earned All- Conference honors for their efforts.

The seventh Whitefish runner to cross the line was Elias Taylor (11th in 16:59). He missed achieving All Conference by one second. It’s the first time that all seven boys have run under 17 minutes in the same race.

“Jace and Fischer both ran fantastic today,” Whitefish coach Sara Brist said. “It could have gone either way for the individual victory, they ran together the whole race, with Jace leading. Both runners did an outstanding job.”

Kalbfleisch become the first Bulldog cross country runner to achieve All-Conference in each of his four seasons.

“We’ve had some great runners in our history, and he is the first boy to earn that honor,” Brist said. Gangemi earned his third straight All-Conference award.

“Having all five runners below 17 minutes is an unbelievable performance,” Brist said. “We know that at this level, we can compete with any team in the state. We have a great 1-2 punch, and the rest are doing a great job of keeping us in the team race. Caleb and Keaton both had great races, plus having the three other runners (Waylon, Thomas and Elias) so close, it gives us a great advantage with our depth for the number five scoring position.”

The Lady Bulldog team also had a nice performance, as well. They finished in third place in the team competition that was closely contested.

Sarah Latcham led the team with her fourth place finish. Her time of 19:49 helped her to earn All-Conference. Payton Twete (20:11) finished in 11th position, while Barrett Gray (20:25) finished close behind in 13th place. Sloan Ellis (14th in 20:41) and Autumn Fisher (15th in 20:45) rounded out the team scorers for the Lady Bulldogs. Andrea Lamoureux (17th in 21:01), Emma Marchetti (19th in 21:19), Sami Easton (20th in 21:21) and Annika Gordon (21st in 21:22) also had great races for the WHS ladies.

“I was very happy with Sarah’s performance,” Brist said. “She has been solid all season. For a first year competitor, she has done a nice job in leading our team. I think she has fantastic potential to be one of the best competitors that we’ve had in our sport. I’m really happy that she chose to be part of our program this year.”

“I really felt that overall our team did a nice job today. If we had a problem, it was only that our opposition ran so well. Sometimes, even when you run at your best, it’s not enough to overcome a great performance from the other competitors. We ran fantastic, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Whitefish still has one more chance to achieve the results that we want as a team.

“We’re going to state to show everyone that we have what it takes to be one of the better teams there,” Brist said. “We are in a strong conference and that makes us stronger for the most important meet of the year.”

The Whitefish teams will travel to Helena to compete in the Montana State Championship meet on the Bill Roberts Course on Saturday.