Whitefish boys, girls win divisional cross country titles
WHITEFISH — The Whitefish boys placed six runners in the top 10 and the girls five as the Bulldogs easily captured the team titles at the Northwestern A cross country divisional Saturday afternoon at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.
Columbia Falls’ Samantha Mundel and Frenchtown’s Gunnar Nabozney won the individual golds.
Nabozney outpaced the field from start to finish to win the boys race in 16 minutes, 5.8 seconds, beating Whitefish’s Keaton Grove by eight seconds.
The Bulldogs were in a tight pack near the front, finishing all five of their scoring runners in the top seven, each under 17 minutes. E.J Havens finished third in 16:20.5, Caleb Knox fourth in 16:25.3, Thomas Henson sixth in 16:47.1 and Ethan Lannaghan seventh in 16:54.3. The two other Whitefish runners weren’t far behind, Keaton Nicholson in ninth at 17:07.7 and Ethan Potthoff 13th at 17:40.
Polson’s Tel Motichka finished fifth in 16:38.3 and Columbia Falls’ James Ratzlaff, eighth in 17:05.9, and Zayne Brunz, 10th in 17:19.
In the girls race, Mundel tracked down two runners to take the individual title. The Wildkats junior said she started her pace in third place, eventually pulling away from Whitefish’s Sarah Latcham and overtaking Polson’s Claudia Hewston to finish in 18:51.3, bettering her own school record. Hewston finished second in 18:56.0 and Latcham third in 19:30.9.
The Whitefish girls, led by Latcham, did nearly as good a job at front-running as the Bulldog boys, finishing all five scorers in the top nine spots. Katie Smith finished fourth in 19:53, Peyton Twete sixth in 20:01.4, Sarah Perez seventh in 20:05 and Sloan Ellis ninth in 20:24.1.
Polson’s Isabella Seemann, fifth in 19:54.2, and Anna Young, 10th in 20:31.3, and Columbia Falls’ Meredith Stolte, eighth in 20:10.7, also cracked the top 10.
“Our goal today was to perform as a team, because we knew there was a chance to do well,” Whitefish coach Sara Brist said. “The idea is to keep looking ahead, find your teammate and keep looking forward. Our goal is to always keep an eye out for our teammates. That’s how you do well. With our bright (yellow) jerseys we can do that.”
The state meet will be run this weekend at the University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula. The Whitefish boys and Corvallis girls won the Class A state titles last season.
Northwest A Divisional
Cross Country Championship
Whitefish Lake Golf Club, South Course
Saturday’s Results
BOYS
Team Scores — Whitefish 22, Frenchtown 64, Polson 66, Columbia Falls 80, Libby 151.
Individuals
Time
Gunnar Nabozney Frenchtown 16:05.8
Keaton Grove Whitefish 16:13.8
E.J. Havens Whitefish 16:20.5
Caleb Knox Whitefish 16:25.3
Tel Motichka Polson 16:38.3
Thomas Henson Whitefish 16:47.1
Ethan Lannaghan Whitefish 16:54.3
James Ratzlaff Columbia Falls 17:05.9
Keaton Nicholson Whitefish 17:07.7
Zayne Brunz Columbia Falls 17:19.0
Tyler Touchstone Frenchtown 17:30.7
Warren Wood Polson 17:39.3
Ethan Potthoff Whitefish 17:40.0
Joren Nabozney Frenchtown 17:41.0
Cade Howlett Polson 17:50.2
Chris McDonald Polson 17:54.2
Frank Dean Frenchtown 17:58.4
Thunder Morales Polson 18:00.0
Winfield West Columbia Falls 18:00.6
Glenn Morden Columbia Falls 18:03.8
Gabe Demmons Frenchtown 18:06.3
Matt Sitter Polson 18:10.5
Dalton Nelson Columbia Falls 18:19.0
Anders Holmquist Frenchtown 18:19.2
Storm Kemppainen Columbia Falls 18:23.1
Cody Barrick Libby 18:36.0
Casey Jones Frenchtown 18:36.3
Cash Sisler Polson 18:58.3
Miguel Hernandez Libby 19:27.9
Kyler Burns Columbia Falls 19:30.2
Jay Steel Libby 19:46.3
Billy Topaz Libby 20:09.1
Niklaus Gier Libby 20:13.9
Caleb Hooper Libby 20:25.9
Allan Rice Libby 21:33.8
GIRLS
Team Scores — Whitefish 29, Polson 42, Columbia Falls 57, Frenchtown 119, Libby 130.
Individuals
Time
Samantha Mundel Columbia Falls 18:51.3
Claudia Hewston Polson 18:56.0
Sarah Latcham Whitefish 19:30.9
Katie Smith Whitefish 19:53.0
Isabella Seemann Polson 19:54.2
Peyton Twete Whitefish 20:01.4
Sarah Perez Whitefish 20:05.0
Meredith Stolte Columbia Falls 20:10.7
Sloan Ellis Whitefish 20:24.1
Anna Young Polson 20:31.3
Amanda Stobie Polson 20:35.0
Annika Gordon Whitefish 20:44.4
Allie Folks Columbia Falls 20:49.0
Tegan Bauer Polson 21:15.6
Maja Holmquist Frenchtown 21:21.1
Maya Gordon Whitefish 21:37.3
Kendra Cahoon Columbia Falls 21:48.9
Miranda Livingston Columbia Falls 22:18.2
Frances Morgan Frenchtown 22:35.7
Sadie Panasuk Columbia Falls 22:41.4
Shyla Stevenson Libby 22:44.1
Alee Julson Libby 22:45.8
Ceara Snyder Polson 23:41.3
Sierra Garcia Polson 23:42.6
Shelby Shourds Frenchtown 23:54.0
Morgan Christianson Columbia Falls 24:15.2
Noel Normand Frenchtown 24:18.9
Taylor Quinn Libby 25:57.5
Grace Doolin Libby 26:04.2
Lexis Higareda Libby 26:52.0
Courtney Bowe Libby 26:59.7
Laura Bales Libby 27:22.5
Christine Johnson Frenchtown 28:07.9
Lauren Rideg Frenchtown 32:03.8