Knudsen, DeLorme lead harriers in x-country opener

The Columbia Falls cross-country squad opened its season at the Libby Invitational last week. The boys were led by Gabe Knudsen, who took seventh with a time of 17:39.61. Joe Lamb was 14th with a 17:57 to make the top 20.

The girls were led by Genevieve DeLorme and freshman Lara Erickson, who took sixth and seventh respectively, with times of 21:03.64 and 21:12.04.

Raina Crowell ran a 22:15.54 to take 15th to make the top 20.

Both teams took third.

Coach Jim Peacock was pleased with the way the team performed in its first outing.

“My experienced runners ran extremely well,” he said. “Their knowledge and maturity showed. My younger runners and new runners far exceeded my expectations for a first race of the year and had an immediate impact for their team. Varsity boys had a tightly packed split between the first to seventh runners, and that lends itself to good team scoring. Girls varsity had fantastic individual performances, but we need the close the split between the top runners and the rest of varsity to improve our competitive scoring as a team. All said, I am thrilled with the first outing for these guys.”

Next up is the Cut Bank Time trials on Friday.