Harriers bring home divisional title
Whitefish’s boys cross country team
used a balanced performance to wrap up their second consecutive
Northwestern A divisional title Oct. 15 at Polson. Each of their
top five runners placed in the top 20, led by second and fourth
place finishes from Fischer Gangemi and Jace Kalbfleisch.
“The boys team did a great job of
competing within a tough field of runners,” Whitefish coach Bill
Brist said. “It was a great battle and we were fortunate to come
out on top. Polson and Columbia Falls both have really strong teams
this season. Winning the conference title was a major goal of ours,
and I know that our boys were happy to achieve it.”
Gangemi posted a 17:04, just ahead of
teammate Kalbfleisch who scored a 17:08. Both earned All Conference
honors.
“Fischer Gangemi and Jace Kalbfleisch
ran very well,” Brist said. “They worked their way through the lead
group. With the strong finish up front, we had an edge in the team
scoring as all the teams were similar in strength in the main part
of the pack.”
Will Holdhusen took 12th overall
(17:59), Keaton Grove was 16th (18:09) and Elias Taylor was 18th
(18:11).
“Will had a nice race,” Brist said. “It
was his best race of the season. I was impressed with his ability
to work his way up through the pack on the tough course.”
“Keaton Grove, Elias Taylor and Thomas
Henson were just behind him to give us what we needed to finish in
first place as a team.”
Brist commended sophomore Caleb Knox,
who posted an 18:38.
“Caleb Knox had a fantastic race to
earn his spot on the state team,” he said. “He’s been coming on
strong at the end of the season. He just edged out Waylon Roberts
and Brandon Maassen for that final racing spot for the upcoming
state meet team.”
The Lady Bulldogs team ended up in
third place, snapping their streak of five consecutive divisional
titles. They finished behind champion Polson and Columbia
Falls.
“We were hoping to compete for the
overall title, but just didn’t have the race we needed to come out
on top,” Brist said. “I felt the girls still ran very well, on a
real tough course, but Polson and Columbia Falls did a great job to
finish ahead of us.”
Nicole Brist (21:09) and Maya Gordon
(21:14) led the effort with fifth and sixth place finishes. They
both earned All-Conference honors.
“Nicole went out after the leader and
it probably cost her in the final placings, but I was happy to see
her take a chance to compete with the best,” Brist said. “She held
on pretty well. Those runners in front of her are all great
runners.”
“Maya had the race of the meet. She has
improved a ton this season. Last year she was 20th at this meet.
She dedicated herself to running a lot since then, including a
solid summer of running, and that has really paid off for her. I’m
very proud of everything that she has accomplished. She’s a great
example to our entire team.”
Peyton Twete (22:23), Emma Marchetti
(22:33) and Rebecca Holdhusen (22:41) rounded out the top five for
Whitefish.
Autumn Fisher and Torrey Coe placed in
the top 20 overall and will also compete at the state meet at
Missoula this weekend.
“The final meet of the season is the
one that we want to run our absolute best in,” Brist said. “It’s
our goal to have all of our runners to run their best on that one
day. The competition this year for both the boys and girls is
especially tough.”
He said it’s hard to predict how well
Whitefish will finish.
“Last year, we had a lot of success
finishing first for the girls and second for the boys,” he said.
“I’m not sure if we can reach those levels this year. We want to
compete at our best and see how we stack up with the rest of the
teams in the state. If we run at our best, as a coach, I’ll be
happy with our results.”