Lake County runners take on Helena, Hamilton Arlee meets in preparation for conference, state
POLSON
The Polson cross-country team traveled to Helena last Thursday for the Capital City 7 on 7 Invitational, which featured a tough field of mostly Class AA teams.
Polson’s girls squad came away in 20th place out of 47 teams, while the boys placed 22nd.
At the meet, each runner ran a separate race based on their slot on the team.
“We had some very strong performances with most of our team equaling or improving their times from the previous week at Mountain West,” head coach Matt Seeley said.
Claudia Hewston captured 14th place in the girls No. 1s race with a time of 19 minutes and 22 seconds.
Three girls placed 16th in their respective races: Sandra Crossett (20:39, No.3s), Hallie Hovenkotter (21:10, No. 4s) and Marlee Seemann (22:37, No.7s).
In the race of the No. 2s, Tegan Bauer turned in a time of 21:55 and placed 27th, while Alisha Jore took 30th (23:08) out of the No.5s and Amanda Stobie placed 21st in the No. 6 race with a time of 22:50.
Bigfork’s Makena Morley had the top time overall with a record time of 16:50. Bozeman captured the team title.
For the boys, Travis Hayes improved his time by 35 seconds (16:37) to take home 21st place among the No. 1s in what Seeley called “quite an exciting race” for Hayes.
Thunder Morales placed the highest of any Pirates runner in his respective race, the No. 7s, placing 19th with a time of 19:17.
Tel Motichka ran in the No. 2s race and finished 30th (18:16), Jimmy Bjorge placed 22nd (17:47) in the No. 3s race and Jared Rubel took home 21st (18:21) in the No. 4s race.
In the No. 5s race Chaz Brewer took 24th with an 18:44, while Cade Howlett clocked in at 19:22 for 23rd place in the No. 6s race.
Flathead won the team title and Hellgate’s Adam Peterman turned in the top time with a 14:26.
Both Polson squads claimed second place at the five-team Hamilton Invitational on Saturday, while hometown Hamilton took both team titles.
Hewston won the girls race with a time of 19:58, with four other Lady Pirates finishing in the top 20: Crossett (fifth, 20:48), Bauer (seventh, 21:20), Hovenkotter (9th, 21:35) and Kristin Young (20th, 23:38).
Ceara Snyder (26th, 24:33), Hannah Hodges (27th, 24:41), Lydia Bowman (40th, 26:43), Sharidan Russell (44th, 28:52) and Benedetta Basile (45th, 28:55) also competed in the race.
In the boys race, Motichka edged out Hayes by one second to become Polson’s highest finisher, coming in seventh with a 17:55. Hayes took eighth with a 17:56.
Rubel was also in the top 20, taking 20th with a time of 19:13. Brewer (21st, 19:17), Howlett (27th, 19:41) and Morales (28th, 19:43) also came in under 20 minutes,
Cash Sisler (46th, 21:17), Cedric Earthboy (47th, 21:23), Quaid Harlan (54th, 22:47) and Rylee Andrews (55th, 22:56) also competed at the meet.
Hamilton’s Anthony Schmalz won the boys race with a time of 17:06.
Polson next heads to Frenchtown for the conference meet on Oct. 13.
RONAN
Ronan’s cross-country team also took part in the Hamilton Invitational, with the boys team taking third place and the girls claiming fourth.
Head coach Noelle Decker said her runners felt “well” during the race, but were “disappointed” after seeing their times, something that happened at last year’s event as well.
“Times just weren’t as fast on this course,” Decker said.
Danny Romero was the top finisher on the boys’ side, coming across the line in 15th with a time of 18:48. Payton Adams was next in 19th-place with a finishing time of 19:11
Robbie Hocker followed him in 25th place, posting a time of 19:36 with teammate Jaden McNair right behind him at 19:37 in 26th.
JT Probst (32nd, 20:00) and Rhett Duffey (34th, 20:06) rounded out the team’s scoring runners, while Jarred Dupuis (42nd, 20:56), Ethen Sheumaker (45th, 21:10) and Trae Garcia (49th, 22:02) also competed in the race.
Kiana Howell paced the girls team with a time of 22:03 and 16th-place finish, looking “better than I have seen her all season long” according to Decker.
Jacey Probst also turned in a top 20 performance, taking 18th place with a time of 23:36.
Angela North Piegan (25:39) and Felicitas Ludwig (26:00) paired up to finish 34th and 35th respectively, while Lindsey Rogers (26:13) and Darian Delaurenti (26:31) did the same for 37th and 38th.
Maria Jensen (41st, 27:01) and Mariam Schatzl (46th, 29:08) also ran for the Maidens.
Ronan hosts the Class B conference championship meet on Oct. 13, where Decker hopes to have some girls to “step up” to have a strong finish.
ARLEE
Arlee hosted the 5th Annual Hatchery Challenge last Thursday before becoming the third Lake County school to attend the Hamilton Invitational on Saturday.
Head coach Katea Dreiling could not be reached for comment or results on either event.
Arlee did not score at the Hamilton meet, but Donovan McDonald was able to put on an impressive performance, taking third place with a time of 17:33.
McDonald was the highest finisher at the state meet last season, coming in 11th with a 17:23.
Arlee will head to Missoula on Oct. 11 for the Runner’s Edge meet before competing at the state meet on Oct. 22.
MISSION
The Mission cross-country team took its boys squad to the Hatchery Challenge in Arlee last Thursday, with Paden Alexander blazing the course with a finishing time of 15:23 and taking home first place.
Nick Durglo edged Raymond Matt to be the second Bulldogs runner across the line, both finishing with at 18:45.
Tate Weingart (19:01), Jamie Mullins (19:57), Karl Daniels (20:18), Ethan Goss-Dickie (20:20) and Robbie Erickson (20:42) also ran for Mission at the event.
Full meet results and individual places were not available.
Head coach Marc Cutler said, “It’s awesome to see each athlete do so well at this point of the season,” as six runners turned in personal or season bests in Arlee.
It is perfect timing with the divisional meet in Ronan on Oct. 13 just around the corner.