Fast times at Whitefish High

WHITEFISH - Jinise Osborne ruined a near-perfect day for the Bulldogs at the Whitefish Invitational cross country meet Saturday at WHS.

The Columbia Falls runner slipped between winner Jessica Sagen and third-place finisher Bailey Eaton, to place second as Whitefish competitors crossed the finish line 1-3-4-5-6 to easily run away with the team title.

Sagen was the lone runner to break 19 minutes, finishing in 18:40.

Osborne edged Eaton at the finish line, both clocking times of 19:19.

"She shattered the school record," Columbia Falls coach Richard Menicke said of Osborne.

"It was 19:31; that record dates to late 1980s.

"That's a pretty big deal," he stressed.

"That was pretty significant. She has been working toward that all season. It was cool to see her go out and do that today."

Menicke said Osborne did the right thing by staying with Eaton throughout the race.

"Eaton helped pace Jinise," he said.

"We just talked about being aggressive today and breaking up the Whitefish girls. She did that.

"Hats off to Jessica Sagen," Menicke added.

"She ran an incredible race."

Carly Schwickert of Whitefish finished fourth, 19:31, followed by teammates Stella Holt, fifth, 20:06, and Jackie Cassidy, sixth, 20:33.

"She had a great day," Whitefish coach Sara Brist said of Sagen.

"That was a PB (personal best) for her by nine seconds.

"The conditions were perfect - not too cold, not too hot and a flat course."

Brist said a lot of Whitefish's runners had quality times.

"They are right where they need to be for the next meets (divisionals and state)," she said of her girls and boys.

Whitefish finished with a 19 point team score. Columbia Falls was second with 44 and Frenchtown third with 99.

Derrick Williams and Justin Whitman led another strong showing by the Columbia Falls boys. The Wildcats took the team title with 33 points. Whitefish was second, 45, and Ronan third, 95.

Williams, timed in 16:17, had a winning margin of five seconds over Carter Montgomery of Plains.

Whitman ran a 16:38.

"Williams had a real nice win, ran a very, very smart race," Menicke said.

"He lost to that kid (Montgomery) over a week ago by 15 seconds. He learned some great lessons (from that), stuck with them (lessons) in the middle part of his race, and then put himself in a great position to use his all-state 400-meter speed at the end. It was a beautiful kick finish.

"He learned how to win a tight race today," Menicke added.

"That's a great lesson for him."

Menicke said Whitman "ran other awesome, gutsy race finishing third. He's been rock solid all season."

Also breaking 17 minutes were Fischer Gangemi of Whitefish, 16:39, Mathias Komarek of Whitefish, 16:42, and Jacob Thomas of Libby, 16:59.

Gangemi had a PB by 50 seconds.

This meet, now in its seventh year, enjoyed its largest field to date with eight teams competing. The boys had 77 runners and the girls 66.

Up next for the Class A schools is the divisional meet on Saturday in Libby.

Whitefish Invitational

Boys

Team Totals

Columbia Falls 33, Whitefish 45, Ronan 95, Frenchtown 111, Plains 156, Libby 157, Eureka 172, Thompson Falls 181

Top 25

Derrick Williams, Columbia Falls 16:17

Carter Montgomery, Plains 16:22

Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls 16:38

Fischer Gangemi, Whitefish 16:39

Mathias Komarek, Whitefish 16:42

Jacob Thomas, Libby 16:59

Jace Kalbfleisch, Whitefish 17:12

Austin Dumay, Columbia Falls 17:15

Zayne Brunz, Columbia Falls 17:18

Blake Normand, Frenchtown 17:18

Cody Johnson, Ronan 17:23

James Ratzloff, Columbia Falls 17:28

Kevin Wroblewski, Ronan 17:32

Jeffrey Heinrichs, Whitefish 17:39

Will Holdhusen, Whitefish 17:39

Robert Earhart, Plains 17:39

Jon Weaver, Eureka 17:43

Brady Oakland, Ronan 17:43

Cody Lemons, Frenchtown 17:45

Preston Schubert, Thompson Falls 17:46

Dietrich Perchy, Whitefish 17:52

Pascal Jessat, Columbia Falls 17:58

Clinton Page, Frenchtown 17:58

Elias Taylor, Whitefish 17:59

Jordan Franklin, Ronan 18:05

Girls

Team Totals

Whitefish 19, Columbia Falls 44, Frenchtown 99, Eureka 108, Ronan 117

Top 25

Jessica Sagen, Whitefish 18:40

Jinise Osborne, Columbia Falls 19:19

Bailey Eaton, Whitefish 19:19

Carly Schwickert, Whitefish 19:31

Stella Holt, Whitefish 20:06

Jackie Cassidy, Whitefish 20:23

Mariah Naegeli, Thompson Falls 20:29

Felicia Earhart, Plains 20:49

Bailey Malecha, Eureka 20:59

Nikki Moser, Columbia Falls 21:03

Tessa Cowan, Columbia Falls 21:29

Alexas Young, Columbia Falls 21:32

Ashley Grandchamp, Ronan 21:34

Anne Gustenhoff, Whitefish 21:35

Torre Coe, Whitefish 21:36

Emma Marchetti, Whitefish 21:36

Laura Breidenbach, Frenchtown 21:40

Kate Dubray, Columbia Falls 21:44

Madison Stolte, Columbia Falls 21:48

Tori Price, Columbia Falls 22:06

Maja Holmquist, Frenchtown 22:11

Kaylin Carvey, Columbia Falls 22:15

Brittany Hauge, Eureka 22:20

Jade Grey, Ronan 22:25

Cami Casazza, Columbia Falls 22:31