Flathead sweeps Whitefish cross country

WHITEFISH — With Robbie Nuila and Josie Wilson leading the way, the Flathead cross country teams swept the Whitefish Invitational held Tuesday, with Glacier not far behind.

That’s especially true in the girls race, where Wolfpack freshman Lauren Bissen — the top local finisher at Saturday’s Mountain West Invitational in Missoula — took individual honors in 18 minutes, 58.09 seconds, a personal record.

Wilson, a junior, was second in a personal-best 19:15.18, and led a 2-4-6-9-18 finish by the Bravettes, who scored 39 points. Lilli Rumsey Eash (19:29.60) was fourth for Flathead, and Mikenna Conan and Afton Wride were top eight in a race that featured eight teams and 63 runners. Conan’s time of 19:47.5 was also a PR.

Glacier, which had Bissen leading a 1-7-11-12-13 finish — another Wolfpack runner was 15th — scored 44 points.

Polson’s Morgan Delaney, who ran a personal-record 19:22.6 and owns the third-best time in Class A this season was third in the girls race, and Ella Fuller out of Fernie, British Columbia was fifth.

Nuila, a junior, clocked a career-best 16:01.70 to win the boys race over, among others, Glacier sophomore Owen Thiel (16:11.91, also a PR) and Bigfork’s Jack Jensen (16:36.1, again a personal record).

Polson’s Jackson Bontadelli was fourth at 16:43.36 (a PR) and Flathead senior Bauer Hollman was fifth at 16:45.95. Flathead had a 1-5-8-13 finish, while Glacier’s runners went 2-6-16-22.

The Braves scored 55 points to 75 for Glacier; 11 teams and 76 runners competed.

Bigfork, the defending State B champs now up in Class A, led a tight group of four Western A teams with 121 points. Libby was next at 122. Whitefish, which has run well enough this season to garner state trophy consideration, was one point behind fifth place Polson.

Complete results can be found at athletic.net.

Whitefish Invitational

Tuesday

Whitefish Lake Golf Course

BOYS

Team scores — 1, Flathead 55; 2, Glacier 75; 3, Bigfork 121; 4, Libby 122; 5, Polson 132; 6, Whitefish 133; 7, Heritage Academy 204; 8, Cut Bank 207; 9, Eureka 225; 10, Two Eagle River 257; 11, Thompson Falls 262.

Individual Top 20

1, Robbie Nuila, Flathead, 16:01.70; 2, Owen Thiel, Glacier, 16:11.91; 3, Jack Jensen, Biggork, 16:36.08; 4, Jackson Bontandelli, Polson, 16:43.36; 5, Bauer Hollman, Flathead, 16:45; 6, Gabe Ackerly, Glacier, 16:46.21; 7, Mason Genovese, Whitefish, 16:49.76; 8, Kasen Kastner, Flathead, 17:09.23; 9, James Greene, Cut Bank, 17:12.05; 10, Simon Douglas, Whitefish, 1713.81; 11, Rowen Sherbo, Libby, 17:13.97; 12, Cody Watson, Libby, 17:15.33; 13, Hunter Arriaga, Flathead, 17:17.74; 14, Michael Pitman, Eureka, 17:18.32; 15, David DiGiallonardo, Polson, 17:22.20; 16, Jonas Krietner, Glacier, 17:26.05; 17, Ethan Amick, Whitefish, 17:26.39; 18, Noah Glickman, Fernie, 17:30.19; 19, Sean Cotman, Bigfork 17:31.73; 20, Iabez Madplume, Two Eagle River, 17:32.24.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1, Flathead 39; 2, Glacier 44; 3, Polson 99; 4, Whitefish 109; 5, Cut bAnk 157; 6, Libby 216; 7, Bigfork 225; 8, Eureka 268.

Individual Top 20

1, Lauren Bissen, Glacier, 18:58.09; 2, Josie Wilson, Flathead, 19:15.18; 3, Morgan Delaney, Polson, 19:22.56; 4, Lilli Rumsey Eash, Flathead, 19:29.60; 5, Ella Fuller, Fernie, 19:40.94; 6, Mikenna Conan, Flathead, 19:47.43; 7, Anna Tretter, Glacier, 20:05.54; 8, Faith Palmer, Thompson Falls, 20:13.27; 9, Aftron Wride, Flathead, 20:34.61; 10, Stella Wahl, Cut Bank, 20:38.59; 11, Dacia Benkleman, Glacier, 20:41.70; 12, Alyssa Volleste, Glacier, 20:45.48; 13, Bailey Gable, Glacier, 20:46.33; 14, Isabel Seeley, Polson, 21;04.66; 15, Tiara Howard, Glacier, 21:18.27; 16, Aubrey Baxter, Thompson Falls, 21:1.52; 17, Morgan Grube, Whitefish, 21:19.84; 18, Marley Bain, Flatheacd, 21:21.84; 19, Hailey Hendrckson, Flathead, 1:23.26; 20, Adison Carlson, Polson, 21:24.69.