Williams, Whitefish boys retain cross country divisional titles
POLSON - Derrick Williams won his second straight Northwestern A divisional cross country title on Saturday.
The Columbia Falls senior posted an impressive time of 16 minutes, 43 seconds.
Fischer Gangemi of Whitefish was second, 17:04.
"A neat accomplishment for him," Columbia Falls coach Richard Menicke said of Williams.
"As he has done all season, he ran real smooth and made it look easy. He didn't get pushed."
Whitefish, 52 points, captured the team title for a second-straight year. Polson, 59, was second and Columbia Falls, 63, third.
"The boys had a pretty good run," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said.
"It was his (Gangemi) best race of the season, definitely.
"This year, the division was pretty close," Brist added.
"It came down to the third, fourth and fifth runners and our guys were just ahead of everyone else."
Libby's Jacob Thomas was third, 17:06, Whitefish's Jace Kalbfleisch fourth, 17:08, and Frenchtown's Gunnar Nabozney fifth, 17:29.
Polson swept the honors in the girls competition.
Claudia Hewston was the individual winner, 19:28, with teammates Aja Starkey second, 20:15, and Tegan Bauer third, 20:24.
That helped Polson, 37 points, edge Columbia Falls, 38, for the team title.
"I'm still scratcing my head trying to figure out how we didn't win the meet," Menicke said.
"We placed five girls in the top 10."
Leading the way for the Wildkats was Jinise Osborne, fourth in 20:45.
"Our girls ran amazing," Menicke said.
"It's tough we didn't get the team trophy."
Whitefish was led by Nicole Brist, fifth in 21:09. As a team, the Bulldogs were third, 55.
"It wasn't the performance we were hoping for, but they still ran well," Brist said of the third place.
"The competition was stiff, the other teams ran well."
BOYS
Team Totals
Whitefish 52, Polson 59, Columbia Falls 63, Frenchtown 76, Libby 103.
Top 15 individuals
1, Derrick Williams, CF, 16:43; 2, Fischer Gangemi, WF, 17:04; 3, Jacob Thomas, Lib, 17:06; 4, Jace Kalbfleisch, WF, 17:08; 5, Gunnar Nabozney, Ftn, 17:29; 6, Alex Nystrom, Pol, 17:39; 7, Carson Wabaunsee, Ftn, 17:44; 8, Travis Hayes, Pol, 17:47; 9, Colton Crismore, Lib, 17:50; 10, James Ratslaff, CF, 17:55;
11, Zayne Brunz, CF, 17:58; 12, Will Holdhusen, WF, 17:59; 13, Jimmy Bjorge, Pol, 18:01; 14, Blake Normand, Ftn, 18:04; 15, Jared Rubel, Pol, 18:06.
GIRLS
Team Totals
Polson 37, Columbia Falls 38, Whitefish 55, Frenchtown 100. Also competing: Libby.
Top 15 individuals
1, Claudia Hewston, Pol, 19:28; 2, Aja Starkey, Pol, 20:15; 3, Tegan Bauer, Pol, 20:24; 4, Jinise Osborne, CF, 20:45; 5, Nicole Brist, WF, 21:09; 6, Maya Gordon, WF, 21:14; 7, Meredith Stolte, CF, 21:22; 8, Samantha Mundel, CF, 21:34; 9, Cami Casazza, CF, 21:57; 10, Tori Price, CF, 22:07;
11, Carlee Brown, CF, 22:08; 12, Maja Holmquist, Ftn, 22:15; 13, Peyton Twete, WF, 22:23; 14, Hallie Hovenkotter, Pol, 22:26; 15, Emma Marchetti, WF, 22:33.