Whitefish, Columbia Falls capture x-country titles
The Daily Inter Lake
Coco, Carlson individual winners
Whitefish and Columbia Falls were the winners on the team front Thursday at the Ronan Invitational cross country meet.
Whitefish had runners finish in places second through sixth to claim the girls' title with a team score of 20.
Thompson Falls finished second, 66.
Columbia Falls also packed well, with three in the top 10, to take home the boys' title with 40 points.
Ronan was second, 77.
"What really clinched it for us, we had six boys in the top 13 (places)," Columbia Falls coach Steve Gasche said.
"That's what we needed to come away with a win today."
Shawn Whitman and Patric Jessat were the top two finishers for the Wildcats, placing third and fourth, respectively, with times of 17:41 and 17:43. Teammate Tripp Gimbel was 10th, 18:23.
"A pretty outstanding job of pack running today," Gasche said.
"That's a nice thing to see in a team."
Whitefish's Drew Coco had the top time, 15:54. Dylan Day of Eureka was second, 17:01.
Seven runners finished under 18 minutes.
"Again, he looked so strong the whole way," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said of Coco.
"It looked like it was hot for everyone, except Drew."
Coco ran off with the Flathead Invitational on Saturday.
Kayla Carlson took individual honors on the girls' side with a time of 19:30.
Loni Hanson led the Whitefish parade across the finish line, finishing second in 19:48.
Whitefish's Stella Holt was third, 20:08; Jackie Cassidy was fourth, 20:19; Bailey Eaton fifth, 20:38; and Jessica Sagen sixth, 20:44.
"They ran the best they have all year, I think," Brist said.
"The way they packed it up was kinda nice.
"It just looks like that group just keeps getting faster as the season progresses," he contined.
"For them to run that competitively when it was so hot was just amazing."
Columbia Falls, led by freshman Leesa Benner, 10th in 21:25, was third in the team standings with 86 points.
"A really strong performance," Gasche said of his girls.
"This has been our JV team until now."
Freshmen, sophomores and a junior out for cross country for the first time make up Gasche's varsity squad.
"It's real exciting to see our kids having success," Gasche said.
Boys
Team Total
Columbia Falls 40, Ronan 77, Polson 118, Arlee 120, Whitefish 135, Eureka 145, Thompson Falls 197, Libby 217
Top 20 Individuals
Drew Coco, Whitefish 15:54
Dylan Day, Eureka 17:01
Shawn Whitman, Columbia Falls 17:11
Patric Jessat, Columbia Falls 17:41
Bridger Mahlum, Bigfork 17:43
Justin DustyBull, Ronan 17:50
Patrick McGunagle, Whitefish 17:59
Kevin Wreblewski, Ronan 18:00
Jared Sine, Plains 18:11
Tripp Gimbel, Columbia Falls 18:23
Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls 18:27
Pascal Jessat, Columbia Falls 18:31
Michael Kruse, Columbia Falls 18:31
Kyle Felsman, Arlee 18:36
Danny Beavers, Ronan 18:40
Kenneth Beech, Plains 19:08
Matteus Hartley, Eureka 19:08
Tim Chopper, Columbia Falls 19:14
John Sansaver, Arlee 19:15
Brady Oakland, Ronan 19:20
Girls
Team Totals
Whitefish 20, Thompson Falls 66, Columbia Falls 86, Ronan 118, Polson 129, Eureka 135
Top 20 Individuals
Kayla Carlson, Bigfork 19:30
Loni Hanson, Whitefish 19:48
Stella Holt, Whitefish 20:08
Jackie Cassidy, Whitefish 20:19
Bailey Eaton, Whitefish 20:38
Jessica Sagen, Whitefish 20:44
Sadie McMillan, Ronan 21:02
Beca Gunderson, Thompson Falls 21:16
Janel Hamdan, Eureka 21:20
Leesa Benner, Columbia Falls 21:25
Mariah Naegeli, Thompson Falls 21:26
Natalie Kearns, Whitefish 21:46
Kelly Beiser, Whitefish 21:52
Monica Conlin, Thompson Falls 21:55
Madison Stolte, Columbia Falls 22:06
Jeffreyanne Parker, Thompson Falls 22:11
Delcie Peters, Thompson Falls 22:29
Jinsie Osborne, Columbia Falls 22:34
Mesa Starkey, Polson 22:35
Nikki Moser, Columbia Falls 22:38