Ronan runners sweep state A titles

The Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA - Ronan snapped up both team titles at the Class A state cross country meet Saturday at the University of Montana Golf Course.

The Ronan boys, led by runner-up Michael Fisher, finished with 80 points to easily best Dillon, 99, and third-place Hardin, 113.

Things were a little tighter on the girls side as Ronan, 80, edged Havre, 86, by six points to claim the team trophy.

Terinee McCready of Ronan finished second, losing out to Heather Haug of Livingston by less than a second. McCready's time - 18:47.

The Whitefish girls finished fifth, 199, eight points out of fourth place. The Polson girls were 15th and Columbia Falls 16th.

"Not our best day ever, but still we were able to come away with a solid fifth," said WHS coach Bill Brist.

"There were some tough teams in the top 10."

The Whitefish boys finished eighth, 211, followed by Polson, 11th, 396; Columbia Falls, 14th, 339; and Libby 15th, 384.

"Thrilled with that," said Brist of finishing in the top 10.

"The boys ran pretty well. It was kinda hard to tell how we'd do in this race. The field was even, a lot of good teams."

Brian Merseal, 37th, 17:14, and Steffen Anderson, 59th, 17:52, were the top two finishers for the Columbia Falls boys.

"I'm proud of Merseal," said Columbia Falls boys coach Richard Menicke.

"He run a gutsy race."

Menicke said Merseal cramped up after the first mile and toughed it out from there.

"Anderson finished his four-year career with a successful race," said Menicke.

Menicke said Jack Scherman, 96th, 18:57, tied his best time of the season while freshman Jeremiah Howland, 109th, 19:44, ran his fastest race of the year.

"Overall, I had hoped to do a lot better," said Menicke.

"I'm still proud of the individual finishers. We just didn't have a great day collectively."

Addie Houle, 65th, 22:07, led the Columbia Falls girls. Chelsea Marjerrison was 87th, 22:52.

"The seventh time this season she has lowered her PR mark," said Columbia Falls girls coach Steve Gasche.

"A nice climax to her season. She's a sophomore, but her first year in the program."

Gasche said Merjerrison had her "best performance," of the fall.

"All in all, we didn't have our fastest day of the season," said Gasche.

"I had hoped for better."

For the boys, Polson's Logan Torgison finished third, 15:59; Ian Mallams of Whitefish was 13th, 16:37; and Drew Coco, also of Whitefish, 16th, 16:45.

"It was nice to get him in the top 15 this year," said Brist of Mallams.

"He was 19th last year."

Coco just missed 15th place by two seconds. The top 15 finishers earn all-state honors.

"He was the top freshman (finisher) in the meet," said Brist of Coco.

For the girls, Beth Donovan of Whitefish was ninth, 19:35; defending state champ Brooke Andrus of Bigfork 11th, 19:38; and Clare Miller, also of Whitefish, was 25th, 20:47.

"She went out a little conservative," said Brist of Donovan.

"Maybe a little more than I would have liked to see. But she turned it on and kept catching people all the way down to the finish."

Brist said Miller "had an impressive day that was a treat to watch."

BOYS

Team Totals

Ronan 80, Dillon 99, Hardin 113, Browning 133, Havre 138, Hamilton 164, Laurel 178, Whitefish 211, Belgrade 216, Frenchtown 279, Polson 282, Billings Central 301, Corvallis 332, Columbia Falls 339, Libby 384, Anaconda 404, Livingston 510, Stevensville 587.

Top 30 individuals

1, Lynn Reynolds, Dillon, 15:43.82; 2, Michael Fisher, Ronan, 15:44.67; 3, Logan Torgison, Polson, 15:59.05; 4, Jeremy Yellowowl, Browning, 16:00.15; 5, Patrick Casey, Laurel, 16:03.62; 6, Chris Bick, Frenchtown, 16:05.09; 7, Brian Vallie, Hardin, 16:19.01; 8, Chad Naumna, Laurel, 16:23.28; 9, Jerrid Morrison, Hardin, 16:27.44; 10, Nigel Neaves, Hamilton, 16:30.04; 11, Tony Klee, Billings Central, 16:33.35; 12, Andrew Graham, Ronan, 16:35.58; 13, Ian Mallams, Whitefish, 16:37.47; 14, Zach Condon, Laurel, 16:42.63; 15, Brandon Drake, Hamilton, 16:43.30.

16, Drew Coco, Whitefish, 16:45.06; 17, Wade Williams, Dillon, 16:47.45; 18, Andy Keim, Havre, 16:48.16; 19, Robert Brooks, Havre, 16:50.33; 20, Marlin BlackWolf, Browning, 16:54.10; 21, Buddy Cheff, Ronan, 16:58.33; 22, Curtis Enick, Hardin, 17:02.13; 23, Marcus Campbell, Havre, 17:04.41; 24, Jordan Schlender, Dillon, 17:05.42; 25, Collin Fehr, Corvallis, 17:05.95; 26, Ben Jessop, Hamilton, 17:06.42; 27, Trys Gates, Anaconda, 17:06.91; 28, Zach Smith, Dillon, 17:07.42; 29, Dylan Zitzer, Dillon, 17:08.02; 30, Cameron Barber, Ronan, 17:08.29.

Also

Columbia Falls - 37. Brian Merseal, 17:14; 59. Steffen Anderson, 17:52; 71. Tim McCracken, 18:05; 84. Tripp Gimbel, 18:27; 88. Michael Taylor, 18:38; 96. Jack Scherman, 18:57; 109. Jeremiah Howland, 19:44.

Libby - 40. CharleyMay, 17:16; 69. Seth Wright, 18:04; 86. Jeremy Brothers, 18:35; 89. Caleb Swartzendruber, 18:39; 100. Andrew Elliott, 19:15; 107. Tyler Brothers, 19:42; 128. Pat Wood, 26:49.

Polson - 45. Kevin Love, 17:25; 64. Chris Ogle, 17:59; 83. Ray Dalke, 18:21; 87. Nathan Poukish, 18:38; 99. Keegan Bowen, 19:15; 101. Tanner Tompkins, 19:27.

Whitefish - 52. Erik Anderson, 17:41; 57. Blake Bjornson, 17:51; 73. Jacob Fern, 18:09; 78. Kellen Bodily, 18:14; 90. Joseph Alexander, 18:39.

Bigfork - 74. Wes Hill, 18:11; 115. Julian Taylor, 20:31.

GIRLS

Team Totals

Ronan 80, Havre 86, Lewiston 112, Miles City 191, Whitefish 199, Dillon 210, Hamilton 237, Billings Central 246, Hardin 247, Sidney 265, Laurel 265, Frenchtown 287, Browning 321, Belgrade 329, Polson 396, Columbia Falls 406, Livingston 453.

Top 30 individuals

1, Heather Haug, Livingston 18:47.12; 2, Terinee McCready, Ronan 18:47.80; 3, Emmy Lynn Bentley, Lewistown, 18:49.05; 4, Sadie McMillan, Ronan, 19:28.96; 5, Darci Briere, Havre, 19:29.22; 6, Meghan Keigley, Belgrade, 19:30.09; 7, Meredith Hanson, Havre, 19:34.50; 8, Alexis DiGiovine, Butte Central, 19:34.97; 9, Beth Donovan, Whitefish, 19:35.34; 10, Lauren Fuglevand, Miles City, 19:35.61; 11, Brooke Andrus, Bigfork, 19:38.23; 12, Dianna Stanley, Miles City, 19:39.79; 13, Helen Pegram, BillingsCentral, 19:40.50; 14, Melaina Asencio, Hardin, 19:43.61; 15, Talitha Smith, Dillon, 19:47.61.

16, Teri Lea McCormick, Hardin, 19:50.05; 17, McKayla Patterson, Havre, 19:56.79; 18, Jessica Englert, Laurel, 20:13.15; 19, Jenna Welnel, Sidney, 20:20.04; 20, Kaneesha Benson, Ronan, 20:20.25; 21, Jaleesa Barthel, Havre, 20:28.54; 22, Brianna Boettger, Lewistown, 20:31.41; 23, Briana Malmquist, Ronan, 20:35.59; 24, Mykel Ler, Sidney, 20:44.21; 25, Clare Miller, Whitefish, 20:47.85; 26, Caitlin Fox, Lewistown, 20:48.25; 27, Lauren Poss, Lewistown, 20:50.33; 28, Tori Porcella, Hamilton, 20:52.14; 29, Kathy Running Crane, Browning, 20:53.40; 30, Shanna Burke, Frenchtown, 20:54.34.

Also

Libby - 32. Tina McLinden, 21:05; 66. Rachel Morrow, 22:08.

Whitefish - 43. Anne Danczyk, 21:30; 49. Janna Rozar, 21:36; 73. Cassie Schell, 22:21; 76. Loie Russell-Templeton, 22:24.

Polson - 63. Natesha Arlint, 22:03; 64. Kali Cook, 22:04; 85. Emily Pyles, 22:51; 89. Kelsey Delaney, 23:02; 95. Heidi Hunsucker, 23:13.

Bigfork - 96. Jamie Morgenstern, 23:15.

Columbia Falls - 65. Addie Houle, 22:07; 81. Jessica Dedman, 22:39; 83. Nikki Elek, 22:46; 87. Chelsea Marjerrison, 22:52; 90. Nellie Lutz, 23:03.