Coco, Carlson take divisionals
WHITEFISH - The rain showed up Saturday morning at the divisional cross country meet but so did Drew Coco and Kayla Carlson.
Whitefish's Coco ran away with first place on the boys side with a time of 15:09 for three miles, while Bigfork's Carlson saved her kick for the final stretch and won the girls race on an overcast morning at the Northwestern A divisional race at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.
"It was a good race," said Coco, who improved his time from last year's divisional meet in Ronan by more than a minute.
Coco is heading into Saturday's state championship meet in Missoula with the determination of a senior looking to finish on top.
"I'm just going to try as hard as I can," he said. "I can't do any more than that."
In the girls race, Carlson had the yellow jerseys of Whitefish chasing her until the final stretch when she sprinted the down-hill finish. She edged out Whitefish's Jackie Cassidy by three seconds to defend her divisional crown with a time of 18:39, which is a half minute faster than her winning time last year.
"I was more nervous at the beginning but once the race started it began to melt away," she said. "I knew that if I could keep a good pace I would be all right."
Carlson's coach Sue Loeffer has coached for 34 years and said Carlson is up there with the best she's ever seen come through Bigfork.
On the team front, the Columbia Falls boys won the divisional trophy for the first time since 1991, thanks to five runners placing in the top 10. Shawn Whitman, who holds the fourth fastest time in school history, came in second with a 16:17, followed by Patric Jessat, who joined Whitman on the school record board with the fifth fastest time of 16:20. Justin Whitman finished seventh with a 16:55. Seniors Tripp Gimbel and Michael Kruse came in ninth and 10th with times of 17:04 and 17:11, respectively.
Columbia Falls coach Steve Gasche was beaming afterwards as his team posed for pictures.
"Both our boys and our girls had their best races of the season," he said. "Hopefully next week it continues."
The Whitefish girls literally relied on the whole team to reclaim their divisional trophy after a number of varsity runners got sick in recent days, including former eighth place finisher Loni Hanson. Nevertheless, Whitefish placed six girls in the top 10. Jessica Sagen placed fourth, 19:13; Bailey Eaton sixth, 19:25; Stella Holt seventh, 19:46; and Natalie Kearns 10th, 20:14.
"It's a great trademark to have a number of girls step up when we need them to," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said.
Polson's Mesa Starkey placed third with a 18:57, and Maddie Hewston finished eighth, 20:05. Ronan's Sadie McMillan finished fifth, 19:23. Columbia Falls' Leesa Benner came in ninth, 20:06.
On the boys side, Polson's Colt Bull finished fourth, 16:25. Ronan's Justin Dusty Bull came in fifth, 16:40, and Kevin Wreblewski followed in sixth, 16:40. Bigfork's Bridger Mahlum came in eighth, 16:59.
Girls
Team Totals
Whitefish 24, Columbia Falls 64, Polson 68, Ronan 81, Libby 150
Individual Top 25
Kayla Carlson, Bigfork 18:39
Jackie Cassidy, Whitefish 18:42
Mesa Starkey, Polson 18:57
Jessica Sagen, Whitefish 19:13
Sadie McMillan, Ronan 19:23
Bailey Eaton, Whitefish 19:25
Stella Holt, Whitefish 19:46
Maddie Hewston, Polson 20:05
Leesa Benner, Columbia Falls 20:06
Natalie Kearns, Whitefish 20:14
Kelly Beiser, Whitefish 20:24
Hannah Weaver, Whitefish 20:36
Breanna Leggitt, Whitefish 20:48
Ashley Grandchamp, Ronan 20:54
Nicki Moser, Columbia Falls 20:58
Dannah Turner, Columbia Falls 21:03
Alexas Young, Columbia Falls 21:07
Mariah Swan, Polson 21:14
Loni Hanson, Whitefish 21:18
Madison Stolte, Columbia Falls 21:20
Tessa Cowan, Columbia Falls 21:23
Taylor Linse, Ronan 21:24
Jinise Osborne, Columbia Falls 21:25
Liz Stevenson, Whitefish 21:35
Mary Wiedrich, Polson 21:37
Boys
Team Totals
Columbia Falls 29, Polson 61, Ronan 64, Whitefish 80, Libby 127
Individual Top 25
Drew Coco, Whitefish 15:09
Shawn Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:17
Patric Jessat, Columbia Falls 16:20
Colt Bull, Polson 16:25
Justin Dusty Bull, Ronan 16:40
Kevin Wreblewski, Ronan 16:40
Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:55
Bridger Mahlum, Bigfork 16:59
Tripp Gimbel, Columbia Falls 17:04
Michael Kruse, Columbia Falls 17:11
Miles Bieber, Polson 17:18
Pascal Jessat, Columbia Falls 17:19
Danny Beavers, Ronan 17:23
Nathan Knox, Whitefish 17:33
Sam Boyle, Polson 17:33
Joe Gross, Columbia Falls 17:40
Kodiak Gimbel, Columbia Falls 17:48
Tim Chopper, Columbia Falls 17:58
Kyle Van Atta, Polson 18:01
Scott Taylor, Polson 18:16
Pat McGunagle, Whitefish 18:18
Brady Oakland, Ronan 18:24
Jacob Silva, Columbia Falls 18:49
Evan Jordt, Bigfork 18:50
John Bishop, Polson 18:58