Almost flawless
The Daily Inter Lake
Boys take first four spots at Libby Invitational
LIBBY - Close enough to perfect.
The Flathead Braves cross-country team was one place from perfection Friday afternoon at the Libby Invitational.
The Braves, led by John Fairweather's 15:49, claimed the first four places as well as sixth place for a score of 16 points. Fifteen points would be perfection.
Michael Fisher of Ronan posted a 16:07 to claim the fifth spot.
Teamwise, Ronan placed second, followed by Polson and Whitefish.
Brooke Andrus of Bigfork claimed first place among the girls, but it was Flathead who placed four runners in the top 10 to win the team competition.
Ronan took second, Polson third and Whitefish fourth. The Columbia Falls Wildkats were seventh overall.
All in all, the Flathead boys wound up with seven of the top eight spots.
"(Fairweather) ran good, outsprinted Elliot (Welder) to the finish," said Flathead coach Paul Jorgensen.
"Both broke 16 minutes, which is pretty good for that course.
"These kids are never satisfied with their times. I thought most of the (Flathead) kids ran faster than they did last year."
Fairweather in particular did well - he improved his time by 28 seconds over last year.
Tera Klein was second overall, 33 seconds behind Andrus. That was a 1:43 improvement for Klein over last year.
Whitefish placed fourth in both boys and girls.
It was the boys who made perhaps the best improvement over last year.
"Last year at this meet, we were the very last team," said WHS coach Bill Brist.
"We thought we might move up, and we did. We placed fourth on the boys' side. The neat thing, we did it without our No. 1 runner, Ian Mallams."
Mallams was out all week with the flu.
"We knew we wouldn't have him," Brist said.
Freshman Drew Coco stepped up, though, with an 11th-place finish.
"That was great. He had a great day today. It was nice to have him step up," Brist said.
As for the girls, "they packed it really nicely," the coach said.
"We didn't have a real runner up front like most of the other teams," he said.
But the Bulldogs placed 14th, 20th, 22nd, 26th, 27th and 30th.
"That's the kind of depth we're looking for," Brist said.
The Wildkats were led by Jessica Dedman in 37th place.
"It was a pretty warm day in Libby today, and that always has an effect on times. But we had a pretty fair day," said Wildkat coach Steve Gasche.
"We have some pretty inexperienced runners.
"But I'm optimistic as a result of our effort," he said.
The best news of the day for Columbia Falls came in the JV race - Addie Houle placed fifth in 23:42.
"She had my fastest time and she ran a fairly conservative race, too," the coach said. "She didn't know she was a cross country runner, but she will be an exciting new member of the varsity. That will have a great effect on our team."
As for the Columbia Falls boys, Dalvin Averill was 12th in 17:46.
"He ran a really smart, strong race today," said boys coach Richard Menicke.
Most of the Wildcat boys ran in the JV race.
"I was quite pleased. I think we came in second place."
"There were no bad races today," Menicke said. "Everyone learned something and I think we're going to continue to improve."
The coach complimented the efforts of runners Brian Merseal, Michael Taylor and Tim McCracken as well as freshmen Tripp Gimbel and Jeremiah Howland.
Gimbel "rane a great first race of his career. He ran a very intelligent race and ran, I think, fantastic for his first race."
Howland took 2 1/2 minutes off the time he set a week ago at a team time trial.
"An exceptional improvement," Menicke said.
The Flathead Invitational will be the next meet for most of these teams - Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Kidsport Complex.
Girls
Team Totals
Flathead 35, Ronan 69, Polson 104, Whitefish 109, Bonners Ferry 151, Priest River 180, Columbia Falls 237, Kellogg, Id. 238. Not fielding complete teams: Bigfork, Eureka, Libby, Plains, Thompson Falls, Timberlake.
Individual
1. Brooke Andrus, Bigfork, 19:15; 2. Tera Klein, F, 19:48; 3. Sadie McMillan, Ron, 20:07; 4. Elysia Andrews, F, 20:11; 5. Whitney Payment, PR, 20:14; 6. Alex Noble, Pol, 20:17; 7. Riatta Booky, F, 20:33; 8. Terince McCready, Ron, 20:38; 9. Kaneesha Benson, Ron, 20:39; 10. Andrea Yager, F, 20:50; 11. Chelsea Cazier, Tlk, 20:55; 12. Heidi Windauer, F, 21:00; 13. Melody Braden, Bon Fer, 21:01; 14. Anne Danczyk, W, 21:09; 15. Barbara Steward, Pl, 21:12; 16. Casey Hampton, Bon Fer, 21:22; 17. Kelly Kincella, Tlk, 21:36; 18. Kaly Cook, Pol, 21:43; 19. Nicole Kalistora, Pl, 21:55; 20. Claire Miller, W, 21:56; 21.Briana Malmquist, Ron, 21:57; 22. Cassie Schell, W, 21:58; 23. Natesha Arlint, Pol, 22:01; 24. Kelsie Delaney, Pol, 22:17; 25. Tina McLinden, L, 22:19.
Boys
Team Totals
Flathead 16, Ronan 95, Polson 108, Whitefish 142, Timberlake 160, Kellogg 164, Bonners Ferry 176, Priest River 269. Not fielding complete teams: Columbia Falls, Eureka, Libby, Plains, Thompson Falls.
Individual
1. John Fairweather, F, 15:49; 2. Elliot Welder, F, 15:52; 3. Sean Clark, F, 16:03; 4. Seth Grossman, F, 16:04; 5. Michael Fisher, Ron, 16:07; 6. Carl Nysteun, F, 16:28; 7. Justin Barth, F, 16:30; 8. Seth Svennugsen, F, 16:47; 9. Logan Torgison, Pol, 16:59; 10. Andrew Graham, Ron, 17;13; 11. Drew Coco, W, 17:37; 12. Dalvin Averill, CF, 17:46; 13. Ray Sayers, Bon Fer, 17;47; 14. Buddy Cheff, Ron, 17:50; 15. Shane Donaldson, TF, 17;56; 16. Cameron Lackard, K, 17:59; 17. Erick Stedje, Ron, 18:03; 18. Theron Trueran, E, 18:08; 19. Tyler Zwiers, Tlk, 18:08; 20. Chris Ogle, Pol, 18:15; 21. Erik Anderson, W, 18:22; 22. Kevin Love, Pol, 18:33; 23. Patrick McHail, K, 18:34; 24. Dennis McLeish, Bon Fer, 18:35; 25. Nathan Cole, Pl, 18:39.