Arlee boys take ninth at state meet

MISSOULA — The Arlee cross country boys team ran to a top-10 finish at the Montana class C state cross country race last Saturday at the University of Montana golf course.

The boys team came in ninth out of 14 teams. Teams six through nine were separated by four points.

“It’s hard because you can always look back and think of one more runner you could have caught, which would have changed the outcome by a lot,” head coach Katea Dreiling said.

Jesse Pfau led the Warriors, crossing the line 26th overall in a time of 19:03.

“Pfau had a strong race and was our number one runner all year,” Dreiling said. “We were hoping for a sub 19 time from at least four of our guys, but Saturday just wasn’t their day.”

David Jimenez was 17 seconds behind and finished in 30th.

Two Arlee runners ran personal bests: Reece Pierce and Kristyn Adams.

“Pierce ran almost two minutes faster than his previous course personal records and Adams shaved over 30 seconds off of hers,” Dreiling said. “Both are freshman and showed a lot of improvement over the season.”

Arlee will lose one runner to graduation. Senior John Sansavere was sick leading up to the state meet and didn’t compete.

“The rest of the team should be returning and both our boys’ and girls’ teams will have a strong foundation to build on,” Dreiling said. “I’m excited to see what this bunch can do next year.”

Results

Boys

26, Jesse Pfau, 19:03.23

30, David Jimenez, 19:20.44

45, Trae Burland, 20:21.45

53, Nicholas Morigeau, 20:35.55

56, Michael Brown, 20:57.94

74, Reece Pierce, 26.09

Girls

47, Kristyn Adams, 26:08.67

57, Tayla Dejarlais, 31:50.00