Bravette runners take third at Rebecca Farm

On Friday the Kalispell cross country teams hosted a Western AA meet and the Flathead Bravettes had an encouraging afternoon at Rebecca Farm.

The Bravettes, behind freshman Lily Rumsey-Esch’s seventh-place finish, took third out of eight teams. Rumsey-Esch crossed the finish line in 20 minutes, 15 seconds; the winner was defending state champion Kylie Hartnett of Helena High, who finished in 18:46.

“The top two teams ahead of us (Missoula Hellgate and Helena) were on the podium at state last year,” Dan Burfeind, Flathead’s assistant coach, noted. “So we were happy to get third. And it was a really interesting dynamic to the race.”

The starting line was limited to 28 runners, so the field had a staggered start: Some schools sent their first, third, fifth and seventh runners out in the first wave; others drew the 2-4-6 runners.

Despite this Flathead ran a pretty tight-knit race: Fifth runner Nora Iams was 16th overall, finishing in 21:46.

“She shuffled our standings pretty well,” Burfeind said. “She ran a race where she was alone for the most part, so that was impressive.”

Flathead’s boys finished sixth, with the top finisher, senior Seth Trumm, taking 27th at 18:46. The Braves’ five scorers were just nine places apart, however.

“That’s something we can work off of together,” Burfeind noted. “The girls executed very well. The boys are working on some competitiveness, and that’s ok.”

Missoula Sentinel’s Tanner Klumph, who owns the fastest boys’ time this fall at 15:59, won Friday in 16:12.