Perrin eyes title, perfect year

Flathead’s Ben Perrin will try to continue his undefeated senior season at the MHSA All-Class State Cross Country Meet in Missoula today at the University of Montana golf course.

Perrin has won eight meets this season, including the Mountain West Classic on Sept. 29. He set a personal best time of 15 minutes, 25 seconds at the Butte Invitational on Sept. 20.

He’ll also be following in the footsteps of his brothers, Zach and Jake, who each won the state meet during their high school careers.

“He’s putting up the fastest times ever, which is really cool that not only is he winning races, but he is racing faster than he’s ever raced,” Flathead coach Jesse Rumsey said. “He’s just very strong, very healthy.”

Perrin was 17th his freshman year, 12th his sophomore year and sixth at last year’s Class AA state meet.

Also attending the meet for Flathead are Kyle Calles, Keaton Fischer, Parker Noland-Gillespie, Jaden Attard, Jacob Ort and Seth Trumm.

Sophomore Tori Noland-Gillespie tops the field for the Flathead girls, who Rumsey believes could have a strong showing at state. Noland-Gillespie also had a personal best effort at the Butte Invitational with a time of 19 minutes, 23 seconds. She placed 18th overall at the state meet last year.

Sadie Wilson, Meaghan Fisher, Hannah Perrin, Hailey Allen, Sierra Vickrey and Carrigan Hamilton round out Flathead’s group for state. Fisher placed 24th at the 2017 meet, Allen 43rd and Wilson 51st.

“Every meet there’s been a lot of jockeying back and forth and so that’s really good from a team perspective that they’re changing position weekly,” Rumsey said. “We definitely have a solid lineup for this meet.”

For the Glacier Wolfpack boys, Simon Hill and Aren Alexander-Battee are expected to have strong performances. Hill was ninth at Mountain West with a time of 16:15 and Alexander-Battee 12th at 16:25. Hill and Alexander-Battee were third and fourth, respectively, at Butte on Oct. 10.

Max Devries placed 56th. Kinzie Peterson was Glacier’s top finisher at Mountain West at 37th, and Holly Skelton 66th.

“It is going to be a very tight year for both boys and girls,” Glacier coach Jacob Dietz said. “Five teams fighting for three spots. Our boys are set to challenge for a top spot.”

The state meet won’t be the end of the season for some of the runners, however, as they will compete at the Nike Cross Northwest Regional on Nov. 10 in Boise, Idaho. Qualifying runners will go on to the Nike Cross National meet on Dec. 1 in Portland, Oregon. Rumsey expects Perrin to be in contention to make it to the national meet, so though his cross-country career in Montana may be coming to an end, he still has a chance to compete on a national stage.

For Class A runners, Columbia Falls’ Joe Lamb, who won the Western A Divisional on Oct. 14, should contend for a top placing. Lamb ran a 16:26 at divisionals. He placed 11th in the 2017 state meet. Teammate Seth Umbriaco placed second at divisionals and 29th at state last year.

Polson’s Beatrix Frissell took the girls title at A divisionals, clocking 18 minutes, 44 seconds. Frissell will look to defend her 2017 Class A state champion title.

Whitefish’s Jessica Henson, Ella Greenberg and Jade Greenberg will be looking for all-state honors (top 15 finish). Henson ran to a fourth place finish at divisionals, followed by Ella, fifth, and Jade, sixth.

Western B Divisional girls champion, Bigfork’s Anya Young, who was one of two runners to finish under 21 minutes this year, will likely look to improve on her second place finish from last year’s state meet.

Bigfork runners Alicia Kalenak, Scout Jessop and Audrey Abbott placed fourth, eighth and ninth, respectively, at divisionals.

Evan Benton was Bigfork’s top boys finisher at divisionals, with a time of 18 minutes, 18 seconds.

The Eureka boys, who claimed the Western B Divisional team title, have five solid runners in Garrett Bates, Hunter Steele, Alex Lowe, Isaac Reynolds and Gavin Bates. They finished, in order, 2-3-5-6-8 at the divisional.

The Eureka girls have two all-state contenders in Mckay Guckenberg and Maya Carvey. They were second and sixth, respectively, at the divisional.

Racing begins today at 11 a.m. with the Class C girls.