WHS girls dominate; boys pull in second
The Daily Inter Lake
RONAN - For the Whitefish High School cross country teams, it was close, but not quite as the Bulldogs nearly took both team titles Thursday at the Ronan Invitational.
The Whitefish girls dominated with five runners in the top 10 en route to a 34-point total. Ronan was second, 56, and Thompson Falls third, 83, at the Silver Fox Golf Course.
The Lady Bulldogs relied, once again, on a well-packed group of runners.
"It's fun watching them," said WHS coach Bill Brist.
"They are never lonesome. There is always another teammate with them. It's to the point they are pretty consistent."
Lauren Kuennen led WHS for the second-straight race, finishing fourth, 19:37. Loni Hanson was fifth, 19:47.
"Two girls under 20 (minutes)," Brist said.
"That's pretty good. Lauren ran a great race, Loni was not that far behind."
Thompson Falls and Whitefish both had two top 10 runners in the boys' field, but the Blue Hawks finished with five in the top 16 for 46 points. Whitefish had four in the top 16 and wound up with 56 points.
"We had a pretty good run, the guys ran well," Brist said.
"It's just that a tough, well-trained Thompson Falls was there."
The Bulldogs were led by Drew Coco, third in 15:55, and Erik Anderson, ninth in 17:07.
"A personal best by 25 seconds," said Brist of Coco.
"A good run for him."
Brist said the highlight of the day for him came in the JV race. Freshman Jessica Sangen finished fourth, 22:20.
"Good enough to bump her onto the varsity," he said.
Columbia Falls did not field a full squad on the varsity level, going with three boys and girls.
Shawn Whitman had the best showing, placing fifth in 16:56. It's the first time Whitman had been timed under 17 minutes.
Nicole Mickelson led the girls, 18th in a season-best time of 21:35.
All the varsity runners turned in either season-best or lifetime-best times.
Like Brist, Columbia Falls coach Steve Gasche was excited at the showing of his younger runners.
The Columbia Falls JV girls were led by Nicki Moser, first in 21:21; Tessa Cowan, second in 22:12; Madison Stolte, third in 22:17; and Alexis Young, ninth in 22:54.
"Fastest time by a Wildkat runner this year," Gasche said of Moser's time.
"Those girls dominated the JV field. I'm excited about the future; of having them running varsity for me."
For the JV boys, Pascal Jessat, 19:20, was fifth and Kodiak Gimbel, 19:32, seventh. Both are Columbia Falls ninth graders.
Girls
Team Totals
Whitefish 34, Ronan 56, Thompson Falls 83, Polson 139, Eureka 153; Not fielding full teams: Bigfork, Darby, Columbia Falls, Plains
Top 10
Heather Demorest, Darby 19:03
Terinee McCready, Ronan 19:09
Kayla Carlson, Bigfork 19:28
Lauren Kuennen, Whitefish 19:37
Loni Hanson, Whitefish 19:47
Sadie McMillan, Ronan 19:53
Stella Holt, Whitefish 20:14
Clare Miller, Whitefish 20:18
Keri Ledford, Darby 20:38
Bailey Eaton, Whitefish 20:42
Next 10
11. Kelly Beiser, Whitefish, 20:50; 12. Taylor Linse, Ronan, 21:12; 13. Beca Gunderson, Thompson Falls, 21:14; 14. Delcie Peters, Thompson Falls, 21:30; 15. Ciara Normandeau, Thompson Falls, 21:32; 16. Jeffreyanne Parker, Thompson Falls, 21:34; 17. Kaneesha Benson, Ronan, 21:35; 18. Nicole Mickelson, Columbia Falls, 21:35; 19. Ali Anderson, Ronan, 21:38; 20. Anna Downen, Columbia Falls, 21:40.
Boys
Team Totals
Thompson Falls 46, Whitefish 56, Ronan 109, Polson 138, Eureka 220; Not fielding full teams: Arlee, Bigfork, Darby, Columbia Falls, Plains
Top 10
Paul Abrahamson, Darby 15:45
Shane Donaldson, Thompson Falls 15:54
Drew Coco, Whitefish 15:55
Jacob Naegeli, Thompson Falls 16:21
Shawn Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:56
Seth Garbett, Darby 17:02
Patric Jessat, Columbia Falls 17:03
Danny Beavers, Ronan 17:07
Erik Anderson, Whitefish 17:07
Tripp Gimbel, Columbia Falls 17:14
Next 10
11. Ryan Sol, Thompson Falls, 17:27; 12. Nick Donovan, Whitefish, 17:37; 13. Mike Morris, 17:38; 14. Pat McGunagle, Whitefish, 17:44; 15. Justin Allison, Plains, 17:53; 16. Patrick Jamison, Thompson Falls, 18:07; 17. Kyle Felsman, Arlee, 18:07; 18. Michael Harrison, Whitefish, 18:08; 19. Phillip Sandry, Bigfork, 18:09; 20. Logan Torgison, Polson, 18:12.