Glacier's Thiel, Bissen break tape at Flathead Invite

by Daily Inter Lake
| September 7, 2024 5:48 PM

Glacier High found individual glory at the Flathead Invitational cross country meet held Friday at Rebecca Farm. Bozeman High had the groupings.

Wolfpack sophomore Lauren Bissen won the girls race decisively, in 18 minutes, 42.05 seconds; junior Owen Thiel took the boys title in a tighter finish, winning in a personal-record 15:31.71.

And it was the Hawks that flew away with the team titles. Sophomore Kylee Neil was second in the girls race at 19:01.08 and Bozeman also had Tula Higman in eighth and three more runners finish 11-12-13 for a team score of 53.

Helena, led by 11th-place finisher Kate Lee, was next at 79. Missoula Hellgate (126) and Glacier (144) were next, followed by Flathead with 183.

“We are thrilled with the way Owen and Lauren executed their races,” Glacier coach Cody Moore said. “So many of our athletes ran exactly how we asked them to, and competed for each spot.”

Flathead senior Josie Wilson ran 19:43.99 to finish fifth; in third and fourth were Morgan Delaney of Polson (19:14.66) and Marina Tulloch of Plains (19:41.93. The top four finishers were sophomores.

Thiel’s margin of victory in the boys race was five seconds: Missoula Big Sky’s Isiah Cowan was next at 15:36.79. Bozeman, led by Taylor Neil in fourth at 15:48.49, finished 4-7-9-12-21 to score 53 points. Helena was next at 79, then came Hellgate at 122 and Flathead at 124. Sentinel (136) and Glacier (190) were fifth and sixth.

“Running fast times are nice, but at the end of the day cross countrty is about competing against your opponents, the course and getting the most out of yourself,” Moore said. “We’ll celebrate all our athletes who ran well, and get back to work on Monday.”

Flathead had two runners in the top 10: seniors Robbie Nuila (eighth, 16:00.35) and Kasen Kastner (10th, 16:06.78).

Polson had a couple strong finishers in Jackson Bontadelli and David DiGiallonardo, who went 13-14.

Columbia Falls’ River Blazejewski finished 20th among the boys and Wildkat Mya Badger was 19th in the girls race.

Partial results follow; complete results can be found at athletic.net.

Flathead Invitational

Friday at Rebecca Farm

BOYS

Team scores — 1, Bozeman 53; 2, Helena 79; 3, Missoula Hellgate 122; 4, Flathead 124; 5, Missoula Sentinel 136; 6, Glacier 190; 7, Corvallis 238; 8, Hamilton 254; 9, Columbia Falls 269; 10, Missoula Big Sky 275; 11, Browning 324; 12, Ronan 371; 13, Bigfork 397; 14, Polson 402; 15, Libby 447; 16, Plains 475; 17, Parkland Immanuel Christian 536; 18, Eureka 549; 19, Havre 567; 20, Frenchtown 571; 21, Stevensville 585; 22, Central Alberta Christian 601; 23, Mission 627; 24, Arlee 720.

Individual Top 25 — 1, Owen Thiel, Gla, 15:31.71; 2, Isaiah Cowan, MBS, 15:36.79; 3, Tyler Inabnit, Snt, 15:39.75; 4, Taylor Neil, Bo, 15:48.49; 5, Henry Sund, Hel, 15:53.90; 6, Taylor Doleac, Ham, 15:56.61; 7, Christian Landers, Boz, 15:56.74; 8, Robbie Nuila, Fla, 16:00.35; 11, Miles Halvorsen, Boz, 16:04.45; 10, Kasen Kastner, Fla, 16:06.78;

11, Elliott Stimpson, Hel, 16:10.97; 12, Drake Fricke, Boz, 16:19.05; 13, Jackson Bontadelli, Pol, 16:19.06; 14, David DiGiallonardo, Pol, 16:24.88; 15, Dylan Hill, Hel, 16:33.05; 16, Odin Berryman, Hgt, 16:36.00; 17, Jack Davidson, Cor, 16:39.73; 18, Miles Miller, Hgt, 16:39.96; 19, Ridley Key, Hgt, 16:42.65; 20, River Blazejewski, CF, 16:44.91;

21, Callahan Waters, Boz, 16:45.94; 22, Sander VanCleave, Snt, 16:47.34; 23, Jake Matthews, Hel, 16:49.31; 24, Branlin Foote, Boz, 16:53.00; 25, Milo Kauffman, Hel, 16:53.42.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1, Bozeman 46; 2, Helena 112; 3, Hellgate 126; 4, Glacier 144; 5, Flathead 183; 6, Big Sky 196; 7, Hamilton 204; 8, Columbia Falls 229; 9, Corvallis 229; 10, Browning 309; 11, Sentinel 330; 12, Havre 340; 13, Plains 350; 14, Whitefish 353; 15, Frenchtown 385; 16, Parkland Immanuel 445; 17, Libby 462; 18, Ronan 529.

Individual Top 25 — 1, Lauren Bissen, Gla, 18:42.05; 2, Kylee Neil, Boz, 19:01.08; 3, Morgan Delaney, Pol, 19:14.66; 4, Marina Tulloch, Pla, 19:41.93; 5, Josie Wilson, Fla, 19:43.99; 6, Aleigha Child, Ham, 19:50.59; 7, Kintla Thomas, Hgt, 19:53.72; 8, Tula Higman, Boz, 19:57.70; 9, Violet Jessop, Cor, 20:05.72; 10, Jamison Molloy, Hgt, 20:12.79;

11, Izzy Waters, Boz, 20:17.14; 12, Annie Emmerich, Boz, 20:18.34; 13, Lucy Erickson, Boz, 20:21.79; 14, Kate Lee, Hel, 20:323.84; 15, Necia Nicholas, Boz, 20:43.53; 16, Kimora Scott, Pol, 20:45.53; 17, Elizabeth Cornelius, Snt, 20:46.58; 18, Solveig Mohr, Hel, 20:54.35; 19, Mya Badger, CF, 20:56.88; 20, Ella Varner, Cor, 21:10.70;

21, Hadyn Garza, Hel, 21:13.07; 22, Lily Combs, Hel, 21:13.66; 23, Adelaide Sugden, MBS, 21:14.17; 24, Claire Seifert, Ham, 21:17.87; 25, Madison Inabnit, Hgt, 21:20.10.