Noland-Gillespie, Perrin repeat at Rebecca Farm

The last time Tori Noland-Gillespie was on the Rebecca Farm course for a cross country meet was Sept. 7th at the Kalispell Invitational.

It was a very warm, sunny afternoon and the Flathead sophomore cruised to a winning time of 20 minutes, 10.69 seconds.

She finished 19 seconds ahead of the runner-up in a field of nearly 90 runners from 19 schools.

“A little hot, probably went out too fast,” she said after that winning performance.

On Wednesday, a little over a month later, Noland-Gillespie was back at Rebecca Farm for the Glacier Invitational. On a much cooler, overcast day with temperatures in the high 40s, it was much more ideal for running. And it showed. Noland-Gillespie posted a winning time of 19:36.0, leading a 1-2-3 Flathead finish in a three-team meet that had 39 finishers.

Sadie Wilson was second, 19:46.7, and Meaghan Fisher, 19:48.0, a close third.

“She had a modest start,” Flathead coach Jesse Rumsey said of Noland-Gillespie.

“The girls started out in a good pack and she pulled away at the mile (mark).

“She is coming into her competitive side now and becoming very tactical,” Rumsey added of Noland-Gillespie.

Rounding out the top five were Glacier’s Kinzie Peterson, 20:01.0, who was fourth, and Flathead’s Hailey Allen, 20:14.9.

“She’s been running really strong,” Glacier coach Jacob Deitz said of Peterson.

“She’s just a junior, so we have one more year with her. I think she’s just starting to figure out how to run in those front spots.”

Holly Skelton was Glacier’s next finisher, placing sixth in 20:15.5.

Glacier had 10 straight runners cross the finish line in places 9-18.

“A good showing,” Dietz said.

“The girls team is pretty young (five freshmen). They have a lot of room for growth.”

Wilson, according to Rumsey, “had a phenomenal race. She’s been trying to break the 20-minute barrier for a couple of years and she had a break through race today,”

It was the same for Fisher, who also busted the 20-minute barrier for the first time.

“I think our training and our focus on our workouts is really coming together for the end of season,” Rumsey said.

“The majority of the kids PRd (personal record) today.”

Flathead senior star Ben Perrin ran his final race at Rebecca Farm and turned in another winning effort with a time of 16:02.4. He was not pushed this time in what was basically a triangular.

Perrin won the Flathead Invitational here last month with a time of 15:51.09. That meet had 100 boys from 22 schools.

“He went out with a slower start (this time),” Rumsey said of Perrin, “helping his team get off the starting line. He pulled away three fourths of a mile (into the race).”

Glacier finished 2-3-4-5 behind Perrin with Aren Alexander-Battee, 16:30.4, Simon Hill, 16:33.9, Max DeVries, 16:48.7, and Nash Grafe, 16:49.8, in those spots.

“We’re excited, we like to see that type of stuff at the end of the season,” Deitz said of the tight packing by his top four runners.

“The kids look good right now. We’re excited we have a strong group.”

Alexander-Battee was also second behind Perrin at the Flathead Invitational with a time of 16:27.59.

“He’s had a phenomenal season,” Deitz said of Alexander-Battee.

“He is one of the fun stories. Two years ago, we had a run off for him on the state team. He’s grown a ton in the last two years. This year, he believes that’s where he belongs, in the top five. He believes he’s one of the top kids the state.”

Deitz said Hill, a junior who has battled Alexander-Battee all season, is also realizing his potential.

“It’s fun to see them realize they are in those top spots,” Deitz said.

“They have been there all season.”

This was the final meet of the regular season for Flathead and Glacier. Up next for both schools is the Class AA state meet on Oct. 20 in Missoula.

Glacier Invitational

Wednesday at Rebecca Farm

Competing schools — Cut Bank, Flathead, Glacier

Boys

1 Ben Perrin 16:02.4 Flathead

2 Aren Alexander-Battee 16:30.4 Glacier

3 Simon Hill 16:33.9 Glacier

4 Max DeVries 16:48.7 Glacier

5 Nash Grafe 16:49.8 Glacier

6 Kyle Calles 17:03.5 Flathead

7 Keaton Fischer 17:29.8 Flathead

8 Sam Ells 17:36.7 Glacier

9 Wylie Schroeder 17:39.5 Glacier

10 Chris Skelton 17:39.8 Glacier

11 Jonathan Gardner 17:40.0 Glacier

12 Ben Schwaller 17:44.0 Glacier

13 Parker Gillespie 17:46.6 Flathead

14 Logan Schwaller 17:54.2 Glacier

15 Jaden Attard 18:02.0 Flathead

16 Avery Hanson 18:06.9 Glacier

17 Lucas Ritzdorf 18:09.0 Glacier

18 Finn Davidson 18:24.8 Glacier

19 Jacob Ort 18:29.3 Flathead

20 Seth Trumm 18:29.8 Flathead

21 Bohdi Hollman 18:30.9 Flathead

22 Gabriel Felton 18:41.4 Flathead

23 Ethan Strand 18:44.2 Glacier

24 Samuel Aczas 18:44.5 Flathead

25 Tate Kauffman 18:46.7 Glacier

26 Marius DeVries 18:51.1 Glacier

27 Daniel Shaeffer 18:55.6 Flathead

28 Caden Masa 19:09.2 Flathead

29 Sean Hegstad 19:40.7 Glacier

30 Drew Dickey 19:43.7 Glacier

31 Kyle Miller 19:45.2 Flathead

32 Henry Smith 19:47.6 Glacier

33 Vance Miller 19:59.5 Flathead

34 Peter Wilson 20:00.2 Flathead

35 Iverson Many Guns 20:16.9 Cut Bank

36 Brooks Taylor 20:25.8 Glacier

37 Hunter Kennedy 20:41.2 Cut Bank

38 Jackson Lewer 20:44.3 Glacier

39 Janoka Caudill 20:48.1 Glacier

40 Paul Cornish 20:48.5 Glacier

41 Cole Eastwood 20:49.2 Flathead

42 Asher Kemppainen 20:50.1 Flathead

43 Ethan Thompson 20:59.9 Flathead

44 Michael Schwartz 21:03.4 Glacier

45 Brannt Fahrney 21:05.0 Flathead

46 Bobby Glennon 21:16.7 KMS

47 Ronny Dalton 21:22.2 Glacier

48 Mitchell Johnson 21:22.8 Flathead

49 Henry Gannon 21:24.8 Cut Bank

50 Dennis Hunter 21:28.1 Flathead

51 Nathan Anderson 22:01.0 Glacier

52 Carson Kiem 22:20.8 Glacier

53 Nathaniel Anderson 22:47.6 Cut Bank

54 Elliott Brown 22:48.1 Flathead

55 Dalton Estey 26:37.1 Cut Bank

Girls

1 Tori Noland-Gillespie 19:36.0 Flathead

2 Sadie Wilson 19:46.7 Flathead

3 Meaghan Fisher 19:48.0 Flathead

4 K inzie Peterson 20:01.0 Glacier

5 Hailey Allen 20:14.9 Flathead

6 Holly Skelton 20:15.5 Glacier

7 Hannah Perrin 20:50.5 Flathead

8 Sierra Vickrey 21:11.7 Flathead

9 Zephy Hanson 21:12.1 Glacier

10 Hannah Deck 21:33.7 Glacier

11 Piper Koel 21:50.4 Glacier

12 Sydney Ruff 21:59.0 Glacier

13 Makenna Kauffman 22:11.2 Glacier

14 Kira Barney 22:22.1 Glacier

15 Isabella Lane 22:29.8 Glacier

16 Reese Koester 22:38.0 Glacier

17 Yazmin Benkstein 22:40.9 Glacier

18 Aubry Grame 22:49.4 Glacier

19 Carrigan Hamilton 22:53.4 Flathead

20 Bella Arriaga 23:16.1 Glacier

21 Emily Hanson 23:31.5 Glacier

22 Nela Petersen 23:32.5 Flathead

23 Regin Koester 23:56.1 Glacier

24 Kyla Harris 24:05.8 Glacier

25 Abigail Girardot 24:06.3 Flathead

26 Katrina Ostler 24:13.1 Cut Bank

27 Cady James 24:14.6 Glacier

28 London Raemaker 24:15.2 Cut Bank

29 Lark Olson 25:00.3 Flathead

30 Macee Barry 25:10.9 Cut Bank

31 Mariah MacKman 25:26.2 Glacier

32 Katelyn Edinger 25:36.8 Cut Bank

33 Megan Anderson 25:45.7 Glacier

34 Brooke Williams 26:32.5 Flathead

35 Isabella Shinn 27:13.3 Flathead

36 Grace Rooney 28:08.4 Cut Bank

37 May Gambino 28:27.0 Flathead

38 Dakota Manecke 29:16.6 Cut Bank

39 Shannia Schmidt 29:33.0 Cut Bank