Cross country: Hill runs away at Flathead Invitational
For Glacier’s Annie Hill, it was strictly a pace race.
And for Marshall Beatty of Missoula Sentinel, this was all about speed ... from start to finish.
Hill and Beatty were individuals winners on a warm, sunny afternoon at the Flathead Invitational cross country meet at Rebecca Farm on Saturday.
Hill was the lone girl to break 18 minutes with her time of 17:48.6 seconds. She pulled away from the field with a mile to go.
Beatty dipped under the 15-minute barrier with his quick time of 14:50.3.
Hill’s margin of victory was 20 seconds while Beatty blew the boys field away, winning by 48 seconds.
“Today I was pacing,” Hill said.
“It was a slower race for me. I took everyone (teammates) through the two miles.”
From there, she broke away and coasted home.
“I’m saving myself a little bit for next week (Mountain West Classic in Missoula),” she said.
“It’s a really big meet.”
Hill, a sophomore, opened the season last week by winning the Libby Invitational with a fast time of 16:25.69.
“I kind of like pacing sometimes because I like helping my team,” she said.
“And it’s nice to have a break from the stress of having to perform.”
Finishing behind Hill were Flathead’s Gillian Maness, second in 18:09.3 and Kaitlin Wride third in 18:12.3.
Beatty set a fast pace and never let up.
“That was my race strategy,” he said.
“I’m a lead type of guy. I’m the rabbit for the dogs.”
Beatty, a junior, averaged 4:57 per mile.
“I was hoping for that,” he said of leading the entire race.
“I don’t like to stay behind people, really.”
After the first mile his time was 4:45.
“I did think that I started too fast,” he said.
“But I thought I would just try to hold it together. I felt like I could pace through it and drive all the way to the finish.”
Beatty was a runner-up in this race last year with a time of 15:38.4.
“I really like this course,” he said.
“How open it is, how beautiful it is, but I didn’t get to see all of that while I was running.”
Beatty did not start running until his freshman season, which makes his rapid rise as one of the top runners, all classes, in the state a remarkable one. He did it to get in shape for basketball, but did not make the cut for that sport.
He was fifth at state in 2014.
Last year’s Flathead Invitational champion, Logan Morley of Bigfork, was second in 15:38.5. His winning time a year ago was 15:37.4.
Jake Perrin of Flathead was third, 15:39.1. Perrin was sixth here last year in 16:21.3.
“He’s a really good runner,” Perrin said of Beatty.
“He’s running like a college runner.
“I was just trying to keep within a good distance and pass him later in the race, but I wasn’t feeling it (later on). I wasn’t feeling as good as I did last weekend in the cold (at the Libby Invitational).”
Morley, a senior, was competing for the first time this fall.
“He’s looking really strong this year,” Morley said of Beatty.
Morley said he tried to stay “mentally focused, in the race” despite trailing by a good distance.
“Focused on finishing strong,” he said and staying with Perrin.
“Once I got to the end, l let everything go,” he said.
“I had just enough to go by (Perrin).”
The Flathead boys and Missoula Sentinel girls claimed team titles.
NOTE: Marshall Beatty’s father, Joseph Beatty, won three state cross country titles at Seeley-Swan High School and enjoyed a stellar career at the University of Montana, where he was a sub 4-minute miler. Marshall’s mother, Jennifer Draughon, competed in the 3,000 meters at the Olympic Trials and was a standout athlete at the University of Washington. Joseph Beatty said his son “couldn’t run a mile two years and two months ago. He stopped like 30 times” at a 5k run in Missoula.
Flathead Invitational
Saturday
At Rebecca Farm
Boys
Team Totals
Flathead 35, Glacier 52, Missoula Sentinel 58, Hamilton 120, Browning 123, Shelby 182, Stevensville 182, Arlee 223; not fielding full teams — Bigfork, North Toole County (Sunburst), Cut Bank, Heart Butte
Individuals
1 Marshall Beatty Sentinel 14:50.3
2 Logan Morley Bigfork 15:38.5
3 Jake Perrin Flathead 15:39.1
4 Ben Perrin Flathead 15:51.1
5 Cameron Miekle Hamilton 15:52.8
6 Tevyn Stetson Glacier 16:14.5
7 Logan Harmon Glacier 16:19.7
8 Grant Wyland Sentinel 16:20.0
9 Brock Adkins Glacier 16:25.7
10 Lane Darrow Flathead 16:29.0
11 Jaden Anderson Flathead 16:32.3
12 Jacob Calles Flathead 16:35.2
13 Derek MacFarlane Flathead 16:42.9
14 Otto MacDonald Sentinel 16:46.3
15 Matt Wilson Hamilton 16:57.2
16 Hunter Casey Stevensville 17:07.9
17 Joseph Vanden-Bos Glacier 17:11.8
18 Jordan Stetson Glacier 17:17.1
19 Damian Croft Sentinel 17:21.2
20 Kegan Morris Sentinel 17:23.5
21 Josiah Aimsback Browning 17:31.4
22 Alex Murphy Flathead 17:54.8
23 Phillip Sunrhodes Browning 17:56.5
24 Derek Sharp Browning 17:57.1
25 Nash Grafe Glacier 18:04.3
26 Chance Morgan Sunburst 18:08.2
27 Luke Henke Shelby 18:12.0
28 Keegan Siebenaler Glacier 18:22.9
29 Kyle Heptner Shelby 18:24.5
30 Ty Runningfisher Browning 18:30.4
31 Rial Evans Stevensville 18:30.7
32 Weston Mad Plume Browning 18:36.2
33 Stirling Ewing Sentinel 18:38.2
34 Steven Banks Hamilton 18:39.8
35 Sebastian Johnson Hamilton 18:40.5
36 Jackson Olson Sentinel 18:53.1
37 Sean Lewis Browning 18:59.2
38 Greg Whitesell Arlee 19:03.1
39 Ben Peredes Hamilton 19:10.8
40 Trever Cullen Sunburst 19:31.4
41 Kris Anderson Hamilton 19:41.3
42 Elijah Webber Browning 19:44.2
43 Jemiah Peveler Cut Bank 19:47.7
44 Dawson Matt Cut Bank 19:48.2
45 Quintin Omdahl Sunburst 20:51.8
46 Colter Mason Hamilton 21:28.7
47 Macager McAllister Shelby 21:42.7
48 Ivory Brien Arlee 21:46.1
49 Ulan Omdahl Sunburst 21:56.7
50 Tom Trangmoe Stevensville 21:57.8
51 Jarod Anderson Shelby 22:11.0
52 Jonathan Henke Shelby 22:36.2
53 Skyler Titsworth Arlee 23:03.9
54 Devlin Sherman Stevensville 23:05.1
55 Logan Roth Stevensville 23:05.5
56 Brendan Ryan Arlee 23:29.9
57 Jareth Salois Cut Bank 23:56.2
58 Jason Miller Arlee 26:08.6
59 Dehlyn Franks Heart Butte 26:38.8
60 David Taylor Cut Bank 27:55.5
Girls
Team Totals
Missoula Sentinel 37, Glacier 44, Flathead 48, Browning 105, Stevensville 141; not fielding full teams —Bigfork, Shelby, North Toole County (Sunburst), Arlee, Cut Bank, Hamilton, Heart Butte.
Individuals
1 Annie Hill Glacier 17:48.6
2 Gillian Maness Flathead 18:09.3
3 Kaitlin Wride Flathead 18:12.3
4 Ellen Brooks Sentinel 18:21.3
5 Nicole Bouma Flathead 18:22.4
6 Madeline Hamilton Sentinel 18:56.9
7 Molly MacDonald Sentinel 19:00.4
8 Jaycie Schmalz Hamilton 19:13.1
9 Bailey Smith Glacier 19:17.6
10 Kelsey Mueller Sentinel 20:35.2
11 Corinne Hamilton Glacier 20:51.2
12 Kim Parsell Shelby 21:02.5
13 Anya Young Bigfork 21:27.7
14 Lindsey Roosa Sentinel 21:31.2
15 Taylor Lapke Glacier 21:55.6
16 Ahna Kreitinger Glacier 21:57.7
17 Ashley Bear Child Browning 21:59.9
18 Makenna Kauffman Glacier 22:01.5
19 Liz Brown Stevensville 22:02.4
20 Madison Edwards Flathead 22:06.7
21 Veronica Reed Browning 22:18.8
22 Carrigan Hamilton Glacier 22:27.2
23 Chaslin Kipp Browning 22:31.0
24 Sophia Skwarchuk Flathead 22:32.6
25 Natalie Yocum Arlee 23:08.2
26 Kelsey Noland-Gillespie Flathead 23:22.8
27 Markie Kimerly Sentinel 23:40.4
28 Becca Whitesell Arlee 23:47.7
29 Bonnie Wolgamot Sentinel 23:55.8
30 Kiara Collier Flathead 24:11.5
31 Erika Mad Plume Browning 24:23.0
32 Jacelin Augare Cut Bank 24:32.7
33 Samantha Reed Browning 24:48.2
34 Jaida Bynum Browning 25:20.2
35 Joslyn Carlson Stevensville 25:24.9
36 Abbi Fitzpatrick Cut Bank 25:42.9
37 Misty Calfbossribs Heart Butte 25:54.9
38 Jolee Bullshoe Browning 26:09.0
39 Jackqueline Westman Stevensville 26:14.0
40 Nicole Billedeaux Cut Bank 26:15.4
41 Brianne Bartschi Stevensville 26:34.3
42 Haylee Koon Sunburst 27:14.3
43 Samantha Hambrick Stevensville 29:41.3
44 Mckoy Feland Sunburst 31:37.1
45 Ali North Arlee 31:52.3
46 Meagan Hesla Sunburst 33:33.7
47 Leah Heavyrunner Heart Butte 33:52.4
48 Jasmine Rider Heart Butte 36:43.9