Local harriers fare well at Mountain West Classic

MISSOULA — As usual, Idaho and Washington runners cut a wide swath at the Mountain West Classic cross country meet held Saturday at the University of Montana Golf Course, but Montana harriers — and those from the Flathead Valley — had some excellent times.

Sam Ells of Glacier stood out in particular, running the 5,000 meters in 16 minutes, 5.06 seconds to claim fifth in the boys individual race. The lone Montanan to go faster was Missoula Sentinel’s Tanner Klumph, who was fourth at 16:02.1. Idaho Falls High junior Luke Athay won in 15:42.9, and his Tigers won the team title with 100 points. Sentinel, the defending State AA champion, was second at 170.

Behind five runners in the top 36, Bozeman won the girls’ team title; Helena was second and Spokane’s Lewis and Clark was third.

Flathead’s Gabriel Felton was 16th individually among the boys and the Braves finished 15th out of 54 teams. Glacier was 21st.

Hamilton, sixth overall, was pretty dominant among the 14 Class A boys teams. The defending State A champs had three runners (Lance Cole, Colter Purcell and Colter Kirkland) in the top 31.

Corvallis freshman Brinson Wyche ran 16:20.5 to finish ninth overall and first among A bops; Whitefish sophomore Mason Genovese (17:20.1) was 54th overall and seventh for Class A. The Bulldogs were third among A teams.

Eureka had the best day of the 14 Class B schools in attendance Saturday; the Lions projected to 80 points in a B-only meet with Bigfork next at 94 and Mission, which has run well in the early season, sixth at 164. The Mission boys finished 37th overall, between AA schools Great Falls CMR and Butte.

Red Lodge’s Brandon Emineth ran the fastest time among the B boys at 16:57.6; Eureka’s Isaac Reynolds (17:01.8) and Gavin Bates (17:19.0) were second and fourth, with Mission’s Andrew Rush fifth at 17:24.9.

Bigfork’s Jack Jenson ran 18:09.2; Thompson Falls’ Will Hyatt was 10th among B competitors at 18:09.5.

Forty-four girls teams competed and Flathead finished eighth overall and fifth among the 15 AA schools present (Butte High didn’t compete).

The Post Falls, Idaho tandem of Samantha Wood and Annastasia Peters finished 1-2, and Hellgate’s Kensey May (18:309.4) was third.

Flathead’s Lilli Rumsey Eash was eighth overall (19:23.3) and fourth among AA racers; fellow Bravettes Josie Wilson and Madelaine Jellison both ran sub-21:00.

Glacier’s Isabella Lane was 98th individually, and 47th among AA runners. The Wolfpack was 25th as a team, and 12th in AA.

Hardin led the way among 11 Class A schools, projecting to 40 points. Running second was Columbia Falls, which had Siri Erickson (20:13.8) and Hannah Sempf (20.26.1) going 2-3 in A..

Finishing first and fourth were Mariah Aragon (20:10.8) and Ellyse Moccasin of Hardin.

Bigfork’s Tabitha Raymond was the best local finisher for Class B girls, at 11th (111th overall) with a time of 22:17.5.

Mountain West Classic

Saturday

GIRLS

Team scores — 1, Bozeman 106; 2, Helena 148; 3, Lewis and Clark 149; 4, Idaho Falls 182; 5, Hellgate 186; 6, Billings West 193; 7, Thunder Ridge 215; 8, Flathead 228; 9, Post Falls 233; 10, Gallatin 263; 11, Hardin 270; 12, Helena Capital 272; 13, Columbia Falls 360; 14, Great Falls CMr 419; 15, Laurel 474; 16, Sentinel 486; 17, Red Lodge 543; 18, Townsend 580; 19, Billings Skyview 590; 20, Manhattan 678; 21, Belgrade 682; 22, Columbus 682; 23, Dillon 704; 24, Three Forks 716; 25, Glacier 719.

Top 25 Individuals

1, Samantha Wood, Post Falls, 18:14.0; 2, Annastasia Peters, Post Falls 18:24.9; 3, Kensey May, Hgt, 18:30.4; 4, Hayley Burns 18:48.3; , Kylie Hartnett, Helena 18:51.0; 6, Courtney Earl, Thunder Ridge 18:53.7; 7, Lindsey Paulson, Belt/Centerville 19:09.9; 8, Lilli Rumsey Eash, Flathead, 19:23.3; 9, Elanor Eddington, Idaho Falls 198:28.4; 10, Natalie Wood, Big Timber, 19:30.6; 11, Renea Parker, Boulder, 19:36.0; 12, Audrey Thronson, Lewis and Clark, 19:36.6; 13, Natalie Nicholas, Bozeman, 19:37.4; 14, Ali Keith, Billings West, 19:47.;1; 15, Bridget Burns, Lewis and Clark 19:48.7; Jessica Moss, Thunder Ridge, 19:49.0; 17, Odessa Zentz, Helena, 19:59.3; 18, Clara Stephens, Coeur d’Alene Lake City 20:00.8; 19, Penelope Macfarlane, Gallatin, 20:06.6; 20, Aniika Kendrick, Hgt, 20:06.7; 21, Hannah Kohler, Idaho Falls, 20:08.4; 22, Katie Sheridan, Cap, 20:10.7; 23, Mariah Aragon, Hardin, 20:10.8; 24, Emma Stolte, Townsend, 20:12.2; 25, Alexis Holton, Gallatin, 20:12.4.

BOYS

Team scores — 1, Idaho Falls 100; 2, Sentinel 170; 3, Idaho Falls Thunder Ridge 186; 4, Missoula Hellgate 195; 5, Spokane Lewis and Clark 197; 6, Hamilton 206; 7, Spokane Mead 213; 8, Bozeman 218; 9, Billings West 305; 10, Helena Capital 330; 11, Great Falls 339; 12, Gallatin 361; 13, Corvallis 391; 14, Belgrade 465; 15, Flathead 482; 16, Whitefish 561; 17, Gonzaga Prep 575; 18, Spokane University 608; 19, Manhattan Christian 671; 20, Billings Senior 689; 21; Billings Senior 689; 22, Hardin 692; 23, Post Falls, Idaho 712; 24, Eureka 727; 25, Missoula Big Sky 738.

Top 25 Individuals

1, Luke Athay, Idaho Falls, 15:42.9; 2, Evan Bruce, Lewis and Clark, 15:58.6; 2, Seth Bingham, Thunder Ridge, 16:00.4; 4, Tanner Klumph, Sent, 16:02.1; 5, Sam Ells, Glacier,16:05.6; 6, Finneas Colcescott, Hgt, 16:12.0; 7, Chase Green, Snt, 16:19.2; 8, Brian Bowers, Lewis and Clark, 16:20.3; 9, Brinson Wyche, Cor, 16:20.5; 10, Ryan Harrington, GF, 16:22.8; 11, Cooper Andrews, Thunder Ridge, 16.23.1; 12, Carson Steckelberg, Gall, 16:27.0; 13, Keagen Crosby, Snt, 16:27.5; 14, Jaxon Straus, BW, 16:29.7; 15, Brycen Gardner, Mead, 16:32.9; 16, Gabriel Felton, Flt, 16:37.5; 17, Jackson Triepke, Hgt, 16:38.2; 18, Jaiden Liddle, Idaho Falls, 16:38.4; 19, Connor Neil, Boeman, 16:40.0; 20, Lane Cole, Ham, 16:40.3; 21, Gavin Budge, Skyview, 16:41.5; 22, Colter Purcell, Ham, 16:41.8; 23, Nico Sanchez, Idaho FAlls 16:44.4; 24, Mason Moler, BW, 16:45.5; 25, Ben Behrmann, Idaho Falls 16:45.7.