Whitefish repeats as team champs
Torgison, Carlson individual x-country winners
The Daily Inter Lake
PABLO - Individual honors went to Bigfork and Polson, but the team titles were snapped up again by Whitefish at the Northwestern A Divisional cross country meet on Saturday.
Logan Torgison of Polson defended his individual title, posting a time of 15:55 at the Silver Fox Golf Course.
Kayla Carlson of Bigfork, 19:08, came out on top in the girls' race, beating a very strong field. Terinee McCready of Ronan, last year's winner, finished seventh, 19:47.
"She's been doing really, really well the past few weeks," said Bigfork coach Sue Loeffler of Carlson. "Nobody in our conference can run with her."
Carlson, a sophomore, won by 15 seconds.
"She took a wrong turn and had to backtrack," Loeffler added. "Otherwise, she would have been under 19 minutes."
Whitefish, for the second-straight year, walked off with the championship trophy. The WHS girls had five runners finish in the top 10 en route to a 30 point total and a 33-point victory over Ronan. Last year the Lady Bulldogs edged Ronan by one point for the crown.
The Whitefish boys, with four runners in the top 10, scored 33 points to finish on top. Columbia Falls was second, 61, and Polson third, 74.
"The boys ran really well," said WHS coach Bill Brist. "That's the best they have done all year. Like (WHS coach) Sarah (Brist) said: "They had their A game today.'"
Drew Coco led the WHS boys, placing second, 16:12. Erik Anderson was fifth, 17:05, Pat McGunagle seventh, 17:01, and Nick Donovan eighth, 17:21.
The top 10 finishers earn all-conference honors.
Lauren Kuennen led a tightly packed WHS crew. She finished second, 19:23.
"Easily her best race," Bill Brist said. "She was looking solid out there, confident the whole way,"
Whitefish's Stella Holt was fifth,19:43, Bailey Eaton sixth, 19:43, Loni Hanson eighth, 19:50, and Clare Miller ninth, 19:53.
"Two freshmen," Bill Brist said of Holt and Eaton.
"They are something, they are talented. They've been solid all year long, running in the 19:30s the last four weeks."
Hanson has been Whitefish's top runner for much of the fall campaign.
"You never know how it will shake out," Bill Brist said. "You would never have been able to predict Terinee McCready would finish seventh and that Loni Hanson would come in eighth. That's just the nature of the game this year. There are a lot of great runners in our conference. It's a competitive conference."
Columbia Falls had a strong showing in the boys' field with three runners in the top six spots. Patric Jessat was third, 16:24, Shawn Whitman fourth, 16:50, and Tripp Gimble sixth, 17:08.
"Three in the top six, not a bad day," said Columbia Falls coach Steven Gasche. "Our depth drops off after that.
"Going in, on paper, we figured we would be second, but we hoped to run closer to Whitefish."
Jessat and Gimble were all-conference for the second-straight year.
Nicki Moser led the Columbia Falls girls, placing 10th, 20:04.
"A huge race for her," said Gasche. "A competitive race for her."
Moser is the first all-conference performer for Wildkats in four years.
Northwestern A Divisional
Girls
Team Totals
Whitefish 30, Ronan 63, Polson 83, Columbia Falls 89 (Libby and Bigfork did not field full teams).
Top 15 Times
Kayla Carlson, Bigfork 19:08
Lauren Kuennen, Whitefish 19:23
Sadie McMillan, Ronan 19:30
Mesa Starkey, Polson 19:34
Stella Holt, Whitefish 19:43
Bailey Eaton, Whitefish 19:43
Terinee McCready, Ronan 19:47
Loni Hanson, Whitefish 19:50
Clare Miller, Whitefish 19:53
Nicki Moser, Columbia Falls 20:04
Carly Schwickert, Whitefish 20:08
Kelly Beiser, Whitefish 20:19
Beth Donovan, Whitefish 20:24
Alex Noble, Polson 20:25
Jessica Sagen, Whitefish 20:36
Boys
Team Totals
Whitefish 33, Columbia Falls 61, Polson 74, Ronan 118, Bigfork 155, Libby 175
Top 15 Times
Logan Torgison, Polson 15:55
Drew Coco, Whitefish 16:12
Patric Jessat, Columbia Falls 16:24
Shawn Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:50
Erik Anderson, Whitefish 17:05
Tripp Gimble, Columbia Falls 17:08
Pat McGunagle, Whitefish 17:10
Nick Donovan, Whitefish 17:21
Danny Beavers, Ronan 17:31
Seth Wright, Libby 17:34
Michael Sandahl, Whitefish 17:34
Byron Bard, Whitefish 17:35
Phillip Sandry, Bigfork 17:36
Bridger Malhlum, Bigfork 17:38
Nathan Poukish, Polson 17:41