Columbia Falls second in X-C at Frenchtown

Led by top-10 finishers Leesa Benner, Nikki Moser and Jinise Osborne, Columbia Falls brought home second place in the girls division in the King Ranch Invitational on Tuesday in Frenchtown. Hamilton was the titlist with 58 points and C-Falls was two points behind with 60.

Paced by Justin Whitman, Patric Jessat and Justin Whitman, the Wildcat boys finished just one point behind first place Loyola. C-Falls had 68 points and Loyola 67.

The C-Falls boys earned third place in the Flathead Invitational on Saturday at the KidSport Complex in Kalispell while the Wildkat girls came in seventh.

Finishing behind the C-Falls girls at Frenchtown, in order, were Corvallis, Anaconda and Frenchtown.

Benner ran to fifth place with a time of 21:15. Moser was seventh (21:19) and Osborne ninth (21:33). Alexas Young was 19th (23:42), Cami Casazza 20th (23:49), Caroline Hansford 34th (25:57), Dezi Brunz 38th (26:16), Lucy Kaplanova 39th (26:19), Tami Kolatschek 40th (26:20), LaKayla Benner 42nd (26:50) and Natalie Law 54th (30:32).

"The girls ran phenomenal," C-Falls head coach Richard Menicke said while on the bus ride back home. "The top three girls had just amazing races today. They ran really tough."

In the boys division, Darby was third, Frenchtown fourth and Corvallis fifth.

Shawn Whitman ran a "phenomenal" 5:28 third mile, according to Menicke, earning sixth place in 16:48. Patric Jessat was seventh (16:59) and Justin Whitman eighth (17:20). Pascal Jessat was 19th (18:33), Joe Gross 28th (19:19), Tim Spencer 35th (19:41), Michael Williams 51st (20:46), Jacob Silva 54th (20:58) and Travis Province 68th (22:47).

"We were a little depleted today but I'm really happy with the way the top three ran," Menicke said.

PATRIC JESSAT led the Wildcats at the Flathead Invite, running to 13th place (17:14) on the hilly course. Shawn Whitman was 18th (17:30), Justin Whitman 21st (17:36) and Derrick Williams 24th (17:40).

Flathead High took the boys title with 16 points, just one point from a perfect score. The Braves went 1-2-3-4-6 in the race. Missoula Sentinel was second (68) and C-Falls third (98). The Wildcats finished ahead of four Class AA teams.

Menicke said Patric Jessat "ran a big-time race," and was very impressed with his "focused" effort. The coach said Shawn Whitman ran strong late in the race and is coming into form nicely. Justin Whitman and Derrick Williams ran tough and finished ahead of all the other Class A boys except Jessat and Shawn Whitman.

"Pascal Jessat is our athlete of the race," Menicke said. "His performance was huge toward our team's third-place finish."

Gross (56th) and Kodiak Gimbel (61st) both ran solid races for the Cats.

Missoula Hellgate won the girls crown with 69 points. Flathead was second (85) and Great Falls third (100). C-Falls was seventh (167), ahead of all the other Class A teams.

Leesa Benner paced the Wildkats, running to 21st place (21:49) after a strong 6:39 first mile. Team captain Moser, who was 32nd (22:20), was the fourth fastest Class A girl in the race.

Solid performances also came from Osborne (35th), Casazza (43rd) and Madison Stolte (46th) to round out the team scoring. Menicke said Young (53rd) and Tessa Cowan (56th) also had nice races.

"It was an awesome showing by our girls in Kalispell," Menicke said. "I really am enjoying this girls team and their quiet focus. It's neat to see their confidence growing. This is a good step forward for all."

C-FALLS HARRIERS competed in a junior varsity meet last Friday in Eureka and went 1-2-3 individually in both the girls and boys divisions.

In the girls race, Kaylin Carvey was first (24:03), LaKayla Benner second (24:45), Kaylee Gray third (24:55), Hansford fifth (25:37), Kaplanova sixth (25:44), Brunz ninth (26:59), Kolatschek 10th (27:09), LE McDaniel 11th (27:39) and Law 16th (29:39).

Menicke said Carvey ran very well her first-ever competition, as did Gray, and Benner had a very nice outing.

Spencer (20:26), Michael Williams (21:04) and Silva (21:23) went 1-2-3, respectively at Eureka. Menicke said Spencer's mile splits were all under seven minutes to win the race, pacing himself perfectly on a hot day. In his first race ever, Williams was very solid and showed his toughness over the three-mile distance.

C-Falls' harriers compete in the Ronan Invitational on Saturday in Pablo.