WHS girls repeat in x-country

The Daily Inter Lake

LIBBY - Make that three straight Libby Invitational cross country titles for the Whitefish girls.

The Lady Bulldogs had four runners place in the top 10 en route to a team low 32-point score.

Whitefish's Bailey Eaton led the parade of green and gold across the finish line with a first-place time of 19:01. Loni Hanson, 19:17, was second; Jessica Sagen, 19:20, third; and Hannah Weaver, 20:50, fourth.

"Pretty happy with that, considering the heat," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said.

"They're running really well right now.

"Even our fourth and fifth (Liz Stevenson, 21:40, who finished 17th overall) runners," Brist added.

"It was nice to have them step up and contribute to the team score. They aren't familiar to varsity competition. They have always been in the alternate position."

The Whitefish boys, led by 18th place finisher Nathan Knox, 17:36, finished fourth with 118 points.

Columbia Falls placed second in the boys team competition, losing out to Sandpoint, Idaho, on criteria. Sandpoint's No. 6 runner finished higher, 17th, than Columbia Falls', 23rd. Both teams had 52 points.

"It was really close," Columbia Falls coach Richard Menicke said.

"They are a real powerful school."

Columbia Falls had four runners break 18 minutes, led by Shawn Whitman, fifth in 16:36, and Patric Jessat, sixth in the same time. Justin Whitman and newcomer Derrick Williams were both clocked in 16:42, which was good for ninth and 10th respectively.

"They ran pretty awesome," Menicke said.

"It was Derrick's (Williams' first race ever."

Menicke said that group "ran a super cluster race, ran really well together as a foursome."

The Glacier boys rode freshman Troy Fraley's individual title to a third-place finish with 82 points. Fraley's time - 16:19.

"He looked fantastic early in the race," Glacier coach Mike McLean said.

"He moved into a pack of four and just walked away from there. He had a nice summer of training and it's paying off for him already."

Glacier's No. 2 runner was Richie Boyer, who finished 11th, 16:43.

Glacier's girls, with 54 points, placed second. Heather Fraley, fourth in

19:23, and Rachael Hart, fifth in 19:26, were the two Wolfpack thinclads to break 20 minutes.

"Real happy with the girls all-around," McLean said.

"Heather is still kind of cruising. She ran a real relaxed race today. That was Rachael Hart's first time under 20 minutes."

Columbia Falls finished fourth in the girls with 92 points. Leesa Benner, 13th in 21:16, was the team's top performer.

"A very strong outing for this girls varsity team," Menicke said.

"They ran really well."

Libby Invitational

Friday

Girls

Team Totals

Whitefish 32, Glacier 54, Timberlake 79, Columbia Falls 92, Sandpoint 124

Not scoring - Libby, Plains, Thompson Falls, Eureka

Top 10

Bailey Eaton, Whitefish 19:01

Loni Hanson, Whitefish 19:17

Jessica Sagen, Whitefish 19:20

Heather Fraley, Glacier 19:23

Rachael Hart, Glacier 19:26

A. George, Timberlake 19:31

Nikola Falk, Libby 19:32

B. Nowlan, Timberlake 20:41

Hannah Weaver, Whitefish 20:50

M. Burgstahler, Sandpoint 20:53

Whitefish - 17. Liz Stevenson, 21:40.

Glacier - 11. Kearsten Hedges, 20:56; 16. Makayla Mitchell, 21:32; 18. Brit Clark, 21:40; 21. Dumitra Baker, 22:16.

Columbia Falls - 13. Leesa Benner, 21:16; 14. Nikki Moser, 21:18; 19. Jinise Osborne, 21:48; 22. Tessa Cowan, 22:25; 24. Cami Casazza, 22:36; 25. Alexas Young, 22:36; 26. Madison Stolte, 22:38.

Libby - 37. Elizabeth Rogers, 28:11

Eureka - 15. B. Malecha, 21:24; 27. E. Douglas, 22:40

Boys

Team Totals

*Sandpoint 52, Columbia Falls 52, Glacier 82, Whitefish 118, Timberlake 152, Libby 192, Eureka 199, Thompson Falls 217

Not scoring - Bigfork, Plains, Top 10

Troy Fraley, Glacier 16:19

R. Sacksteder, Timberlake 16:24

B. Mahlum, Bigfork 16:25

J. Matthews, Sandpoint 16:28

Shawn Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:36

Patric Jessat, Columbia Falls 16:36

D. Marienau, Sandpoint 16:36

C. Montgomery, Plains 16:36

Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:42

Derrick Williams, Columbia Falls 16:42

*Sandpoint won the team title over Columbia Falls because its 6th runner finished 17th overall, seven places ahead of Columbia Falls' 6th runner

Columbia Falls -22. Pascal Jessat, 18:02; 23. Joe Gross, 18:05

Glacier - 11. Richie Boyer, 16:43 (PB); 20. Ben Robertson, 17:54 (PB); 24. Flint Martino, 18:22; 25. Mike Gordon, 18:35; 36. Trace Hobbs, 19:12 (PB); 39. Kolton Cahoon, 19:21.

Whitefish - 18. Nathan Knox, 17:36; 19. Jace Kalbfleisch, 17:54; 26. Baxter Graham, 18:46; 27. Will Holdhusen, 18:49; 28. Fischer Gangemi, 18:50; 31. Francisco Valle, 19:04; 38. Chris Reyna, 19:21

Libby - 30. Will Lott, 18:52; 34. Ben Graziano, 19:09; 40. Cody Elliott, 19:22; 43. Jacob Thomas, 19:36; 45. Zek Carlson, 19:56; 47. Mac Nelson, 20:08; 54. Chris Faulkner, 20:48

Eureka - 13. D. Day, 16:43; 32. J. eaver, 19:04; 49. S. Deavours, 20:14; 50. M. Good, 20:18; 55. J. Mepham, 22:32.