Cross country teams second in Thompson Falls

It was a week of second-place finishes for the Columbia Falls cross country teams as both varsity squads and both junior varsity squads were runners up in Thompson Falls.

Joe Lamb paced the Columbia Falls runners, finishing third in the varsity boys’ race with a time of 16:58, just eight tenths of a second behind the second-place finisher. Lamb led the middle mile of the race, but he was passed with about a mile remaining and did not match a move that earned Ronan’s James Normandeau a win. The Wildcats finished just seven points behind meet winner Frenchtown.

In the girls’ race, Lara Erickson was the top Columbia Falls girl, finishing 11th overall with a time of 21:21. Erickson ran an even effort, running just behind the main lead pack throughout the race. Defending state champion, Beatrix Frissell ran away from the field for a decisive win, and Bigfork’s Anya Young was also well clear of the rest of the field to finish second overall. The Wildkats were second as a team behind only Whitefish.

Attention in cross country is usually focused on race winners or a team’s top finisher, but cross country enthusiasts know this is a team sport, and a team’s success hinges on depth. Depth on the Columbia Falls team was on display in Thompson Falls this week with great races by Seth Umbriaco and Aidan Jarvis on the boys’ side, finishing sixth and 10th respectively. James Role was 17th, Bryce Bennett finished 32nd, Bailey Sjostrom was 35th and Beau Umbriaco was 39th.

On the girls’ team Raychel Hoerner, Alyssa Blankenship, Rebekah Walker and Emma Upton ran exceptionally well, finishing 13th, 24th, 30th, 31st. Genevieve Delorme also ran well in a return to competition after nursing a nagging injury to finish 21st. Kara Mohr was 35th for the Wildkats.

“I was pleased with the varsity kids that we don’t always read about in the papers. You don’t score if you don’t have good races throughout the team,” head coach Jim Peacock said. “We have a lot of kids running really well right now on both girls’ and boys’ teams. Case in point, Raychel Hoerner ran a career personal best time and finished right behind Lara Erickson for thirteenth place. Seniors don’t run many personal best times in the middle of the season, but Raychel has broken her personal record in each of her last two races.”

In junior varsity action, the Columbia Falls boys finished behind only Polson while the girls were second to Whitefish.

“A good statement of the strength of a program is depth and success at the sub varsity level. Our junior varsity runners are doing really well, working hard, and competing at a high level,” Peacock said. “They don’t get as much public eye, but these kids deserve some credit and attention.”

Kaila Belston led the girls with a fifth-place finish while Kaylee Johns was seventh, Katy Garate was 10th, Laney Conger came in 11th, Jayna Moultray was 12th, Shaela Tuell was 22nd and Gracie Mee finished 25th.

James Peterson paced the junior varsity boys with a seventh-place finish while Zane McCallum was eighth, Mac Jarvis was ninth and T.J. Jacobi rounded out the top-10. Connor Cheff was 16th, Cole Cooper 17th, Coleman Wollenzien 20th, Aiden Judge 28th, Jayce Vandevanter 29th, Colin Smith 31st, Russell Albin 33rd, Rayden Hallett 39th, Max Roesner 44th, Colter Johnson 46th, Hunter Underdahl 55th and Lane Clark was 56th.

This week, the team ran in Whitefish Tuesday before preparing for the Mountain West Classic in Missoula Saturday.

“For the past week, we’ve been focusing on learning more about racing strategies. Many of runners played around with different tactics at this meet. Some worked. Some didn’t,” Peacock said. “It was fun to watch some of our kids learn lessons and develop a little more personal awareness about their strengths and weaknesses. Our youth and enthusiasm is starting to get tempered with experience and improved intelligence.”