CFHS harriers win JV boys, girls titles at Libby

Columbia Falls captured both the junior varsity boys and girls titles at the Libby Invitational on Friday to open the cross country season. Freshman Justin Whitman was the winner of the JV boys race, and sophomore Madison Stolte took top honors in JV girls.

In varsity competition, the Wildcat boys finished in third place among seven teams. CFHS was the top Class A team at the meet.

"We had our best opening meet of the season in perhaps my entire career," said Stephen Gasche, who is in his 25th year as head coach at CFHS. "Times were fast and we were highly competitive."

Shawn Whitman led the Cat varsity boys at Libby, earning fifth place with a time of 17:08.2. Teammate Patric Jessat was 10th in 17:39. Tripp Gimbel placed 13th (18:00.6), Michael Kruse 17th (18:25.4) and Tim Chopper 25th (19:26.1) to round out the varsity scoring for the Cats.

CFHS had only one runner in the varsity girls race. Senior Nikki Elek placed 22nd in a time of 22:26.4.

Timberlake, Idaho, won the varsity boys crown at Libby with 47 points. Glacier was second with 65, and CFHS third with 70. Whitefish has 123, Eureka 128, Thompson Falls 158 and Libby 182. Whitefish was the varsity girls champion, totaling 25 points, with all five of its scorers in the top seven. Glacier was runner-up with 68, Thompson Falls had 78, Timberlake 87 and Eureka 139.

Gasche was especially pleased with the results of the JV races.

"We place five girls in the top seven finishers and six boys in the top eight finishers to clinch both team titles," Gasche said.

Whitman's winning time in the JV boys race was 17:39. He was the junior high race winner a year ago, so he is undefeated on the Libby course. CFHS' Pascal Jessat was second (18:22.8), Kodiak Gimbel fifth (18:59.7), Joe Gross sixth (19:19.5), Jacob Silva seventh (19:21.6) and Coby Hutchens eighth (20:14). Alex Peterson finished in a time of 30:35.4.

Stolte had a first-place time of 21:39.9 in the JV girls race. Hot on her heels was Leesa Benner, who was second in 21:40.3. Dannah Turner ran to fourth place (22:03.6), Jinise Osborne sixth (22:13.4) and Nicki Moser seventh (22:15.8). Other Wildkat finishers were Alexas Young, who was 13th (23:54.2), and Dezi Brunz, who placed 16th (24:26.1).

"It was a lot of fun watching our younger runners placing so highly and with such incredible early season times," Gasche said. "Many of these athletes will be seeing varsity action soon."

This Saturday the CFHS harriers compete in the Flathead Invitational at Kidsports Complex in Kalispell, across from Flathead Valley Community College. Junior high teams will compete at 10 a.m. High school races begin at 11 a.m., beginning with JV girls. Then it's varsity girls, JV boys and varsity boys races, in that order.

Admission to the Flathead Invite, the closest competition to Columbia Falls this season, is free. Gasche encourages the community to attend the meet and support the CFHS boys and girls.

CFHS golfers start strong

The 2008 Columbia Falls High School golf season got off to a good start at the Ronan Invitational last Thursday. Senior Nolan Emerson shot 85 in his first varsity competition to lead the Wildcats to an eighth-place finish and team score of 360. Sophomore Jordan Mueller shot 86, followed by Tanner Lineberry, 89, Mike Cotton, 100, and Ian Gordon, 103. Whitefish won the team title with a 310 while Glacier High School's Jake Miller took individual medalist honors with a 75.

Wildkat sophomore Courtney Tamburelli and junior Kelsey DeWit started the competitive season with 116 and 118, respectively, followed by sophomores Olivia Williams at 127 and Devon Goe at 137. Whitefish also claimed the girls team title at 341, while Polson's Julia DiGiallonardo was the medallist at 79.

"This tournament provided us an early-season look at where we stand in the conference," coach Gene Marcille said. "I'm pretty excited about our chances on the season, and we're all excited about being able to post a team score on the girls side of the tournament."

The Columbia Falls High School golf team hosts the only JV tournament in the conference Thursday (today) at Glacier View Golf Course, starting about 9 a.m. in West Glacier, with the next varsity action next Tuesday at Meadow Lake with action starting at 1:30 p.m.