Speedy Perrin defends title at Flathead Invite

Western Montana's young crop of running talent was showcased on Saturday at the annual Flathead Invitational cross country meet.

Flathead sophomore Zach Perrin owned the three-mile course at Kidsports Complex and shaved 20 seconds off his winning time from a year ago, clocking 15:40. Only Bozeman's Jakob Woodland has ran a faster time (15:22) so far this season.

"I'm psyched to be able to win the home meet," Perrin said in between high-fiving friends and teammates after the race. "The weather was nice outside, people showed up. It was a sweet race."

Flathead junior Hunter Schutt leaned into the finish line for fourth place and the Braves edged Missoula Hellgate by four points to take first place with 61 team points. Flathead had five runners place in the top 22.

In the girls race, Hellgate sophomore Paige Gilchrist was stride for stride with Polson freshman Aja Starkey before pulling away down the stretch and winning in 18:22. Starkey finished second with 18:59.

The Hellgate girls won with 52 points, Sentinel was second with 92 and Polson finished third with 98. The Flathead girls, led by sixth-place finisher Paige Bouma, came in fourth with 106 points. Bailey Hughes was the next top finisher for the Bravettes at 14th.

Heather Fraley paced the Glacier girls with a seventh-place individual finish and the Wolfpack came in fifth as a team with 117 points. Rachael Hart placed 12th for the Wolfpack.

Fraley's brother, Glacier sophomore Troy Fraley, came in sixth in the boys race and the Wolfpack finished sixth with 149 points.

Perrin headlines a group of young runners this season that are more than talented enough to make the top 15 at the state championship meet in Helena on Oct. 23.

"It goes in cycles, but I think there are a lot of good young runners in all of Montana but especially western (Montana)," Flathead head coach Paul Jorgensen said. "It's going to be tough (at state this year). There's a lot of good teams."

Perrin has already made a name for himself as one of the top runners in the state thanks to a standout cross country and track season as a freshman.

The motivation lived on all summer as Perrin trained and competed in 5K races.

"I want to be competitive. This is something I love and I want to be good at it," he said.

"He's running 20-30 seconds faster than last year," Jorgensen said. "He ran a really good last mile (on Saturday). He looked within himself, he wasn't struggling. He was running nice and loose."

Glacier coach Mike McLean has a young crop at Glacier that he's happy to see improve this early in the season.

"I was really pleased with our kids that were out there working hard. We're not just surviving the course, we're starting to race the course" he said. "We have a lot of young kids running real well and just working hard so I'm very, very pleased with that."

Columbia Falls' Derrick Williams placed eighth in the boys race and teammate Justin Whitman came in 15th.

Flathead Invitational Cross Country Meet

Kidsports Complex

Saturday

Varsity boys

Team scores

Flathead 61, Missoula Hellgate 65, Missoula Sentinel 80, Great Falls CMR 110, Great Falls 140, Glacier 149, Columbia Falls 178, Browning 191, Ronan 208, Loyola Sacred Heart 221, Polson 267.

1. Zach Perrin, Fla, 15:40; 2. Jacob Turner, Sent, 16:11; 3. Adam Peterman, Helg, 16:24; 4. Hunter Schutt, Fla, 16:35; 5. Ben Vaughan, GF, 16:35; 6. Troy Fraley, Gla, 16:41; 7. Mark Messmer, Sent, 16:47; 8. Derrick Williams, CF, 16:57; 9. Drew Gottman, Helg, 17:08; 10. Michael Bowles, Helg, 17:08; 11. Kit Mayer, LSH, 17:08; 12. Will Strauss, GF, 17:14; 13. Josh Panasuk, Butte, 17:20; 14. Patrick Rayl, CMR, 17:24; 15. Justin Whitman, CF, 17:36; 16. Aaron Duffy, CMR, 17:38; 17. Kiefer Wills, Fla, 17:40; 18. Austin Thompson, CMR, 17:40; 19. Hunter Guthrie, Sent, 17:40; 20. Ben Moon, Fla, 17:43; 21. Tazio Scariano, Helg, 17:46; 22. Jeremiah Gaiser, Fla, 17:46; 23. Jacob Strauss, GF, 17:50; 24. Christopher Everett, Helg, 17:55; 25. Brandon Bedenbender, CMR, 17:57; 26. Logan Shrader, Butte, 18:00; 27. Erik Anderson, Sent, 18:01; 28. Rich Boyer, Gla, 18:04; 29. Jimmy Bjorge, Pol, 18:07; 30. Erik Mason, Sent, 18:11; 31. Flint Martino, Gla, 18:10; 32. Jon Hamilton, Sent, 18:11; 33. Lyle Pocha, LSH, 18:12; 34. Alex Nystrom, Pol, 18:12; 35. Billy D Sharp, Brow, 18:19; 36. Cody Johnson, Ron, 18:26; 37. Aaron Murry, Gla, 18:31; 38. Tyson Whitegrass, Brow, 18:32; 39. Kevin Wreblewski, Ron, 18:33; 40. Wyatt MadPlume, Brow, 18:37; 41. Douglas Hall, Brow, 18:41; 42. Cooper Fisher, Butte, 18:46; 43. Justin Dusty Bull, Ron, 18:50; 44. Jack Martinez, CMR, 18:52; 45. Graham Serviss, Helg, 18:52; 46. Colten Miller, Sent, 18:56; 47. Paul Stewart, GF, 18:58; 48. Brad Kittson, Brow, 18:59; 49. James Ratzlaff, CF, 19:02; 50. Brady Oakland, Ron, 19:03; 51. Mason Mendenhall, CMR, 19:03; 52. Keenan Wills, Fla, 19:04; 53. Danny Romero, Ron, 19:07; 54. Robert Juarez, Brow, 19:09; 55. Zayne Brunz, CF, 19:10; 56. Kolton Cahoon, Gla, 19:11; 57. Jack Shaughnessy, LSH, 19:12; 58. Danny Hurd, LSH, 19:12; 59. Eric Vance, Gla, 19:18; 60. Daniel Klinger, GF, 19:23.

Varsity girls

Team scores

Missoula Hellgate 52, Missoula Sentinel 90, Polson 98, Flathead 106, Glacier 117, Great Falls 117, Columbia Falls 144, Browning 175, Great Falls CMR.

1. Paige Gilchrist, Helg, 18:22; 2. Aja Starkey, Pol, 18:59; 3. Rachel Stewart, GF, 19:32; 4. Mary McCarvel, Butte, 19:44; 5, Breanna Jaynes, Sent, 19:47; 6. Paige Bouma, Fla, 19:56; 7. Heather Fraley, Gla, 20:07; 8. Katelin Smith, Augusta, 20:32; 9. Molly Crum, GF, 20:33; 10. Scarlet Kaplan, Helg, 20:46; 11. Claudia Hewston, Pol, 20:53; 12. Rachael Hart, Gla, 20:54; 13. Addi Melvin, Helg, 20:59; 14. Bailey Hughes, Fla, 21:00; 15. Ali Laird, Sent, 21:02; 16. Jessica Herzog, Butte, 21:04; 17. Jinise Osborne, CF, 21:06; 18, Lily Clarke, Helg, 21:07; 19. Mesa Starkey, Pol, 21:14; 20. Tessa Grigsby, Helg, 21:18; 21. Alex Williams, Sent, 21:30; 22. Ellen Ipsen, Helg, 21:37; 23. Bailey Connors, Butte, 21:42; 24. Shanell CreeMedicine, Brow, 21:45; 25. Liz Chmielewski, Fla, 21:47; 26. Wendy MadPlume, Brow, 21:53; 27. Amanda McNeese, GF, 22:01; 28. Gilia Patterson, Helg, 22:05; 29. Kelley McCafferty, Belt, 22:12; 30. Sara Mauseth, CMR, 22:15; 31. Hailey Hodge, Butte, 22:16; 32. Megan Herring, Sent, 22:17; 33. Chelsey Olson, BF, 22:18; 34. Tegan Bauer, Pol, 22:21; 35. Nicki Moser, CF, 22:23; 36. McCall Hasquet, Sent, 22:26; 37. Kylee Gibson, Gla, 22:28; 38. Lea Gondeiro, Belt, 22:30; 39. Sierra Maxwell, Fla, 22:38; 40. Alexas Young, CF, 22:39; 41. Nicole Brist, Gla, 22:46; 42. Tessa Cowam, CF, 22:48; 43. Shay Tatsey, Brow, 22:55; 44. Cami Cassaza, CF, 22:56; 45. Rose Byrne, Fla, 22:58; 46. Dumitra Baker, Gla, 23:03; 47. Amanda Mack, GF, 23:03; 48. Bridet Unterreiner, Gla, 23:16; 49. Breanna Leggitt, Fla, 23:26; 50. Rebekka Russell, CMR, 23:35; 51. Kaile Sauro, LSH, 23:35; 52. Natalie Jeude, Fla, 23:41; 53. Alisha Jore, Pol, 23:46; 54. Tia Fuhrmann, GF, 23:47; 55. Shelby Vernon, CMR, 23:50; 56. Alli Sexe, CMR, 23:50; 57. Kaylee Miller, Belt, 23:52; 58. Tiah Lorenzo, Brow, 23:55; 59. Caroline Hansford, CF, 23:56; 60. Kayla Hall, Brow, 24:00.