Bieber and Bull lead Pirate runners

HAMILTON — The Polson boys cross country tandem of seniors Colter Bull and Miles Bieber led the Pirates to a first place finish at the Hamilton Invitational.

The boys team took first place while the girls came in second.

Bieber and Bull finished fifth and sixth, respectively, one second apart.

“I was really proud of how Miles and Colter pushed each other and stayed very focused for the entire race,” head coach Matt Seeley said.

Freshman Jimmy Bjorge ran under 18 minutes for the first time this year to finish third for Polson, followed by sophomore Alex Nystrom.

Junior Nick Andrews was the “clincher for Polson’s dominating team score,” Seeley said. He ran a lifetime best race of 18:28.

“Jimmy keeps finding a way to run harder and Nick is finally enjoying some consistent fitness and speed,” Seeley said. “Scott Taylor also made his varsity debut and really pushed the other guys with a fast start and gutsy finish.”

Junior Mesa Starkey led the girls, finishing fifth with a time of 19:39. Junior Sierra Pete and senior Karissa Koberg followed in the second and third Pirate spots.

“Karissa caught Sierra in the last half mile and really pushed her all the way to the line,” Seeley said.

The fourth and fifth fastest times for Polson came from the JV race. Freshman Whitney Zimmerman and Chelsey Cree led the team for most of the race.

“It is great to see these young girls racing hard and really pushing some of our veteran runners,” Seeley said.

Polson will host the Pirate Duels meet at the fairgrounds on Saturday starting at noon. There is also an open race at 3 p.m. for parents, coaches, and all community members.