Lake County runners take on Mission Mountain Golf Course

RONAN — All four Lake County cross-country teams, as well as runners from 12 other schools, met at the Mission Mountain Golf Course in Ronan on Saturday for the Ronan Invitational, with the Hellgate boys and Hamilton girls coming away with the top prizes.

RONAN — All four Lake County cross-country teams, as well as runners from 12 other schools, met at the Mission Mountain Golf Course in Ronan on Saturday for the Ronan Invitational, with the Hellgate boys and Hamilton girls coming away with the top prizes.

Flathead’s Zach Perrin topped all boy runners with a blazing time of 14 minutes and 28 seconds, well ahead of second-place finisher Adam Peterman of Hellgate, who finished with a time of 15:15.

Makena Morley of Bigfork also scorched the course and finished with a comfortable lead in the girls race, clocking in at 17:14. She was just one of two Bigfork runners in the race.

Polson

Polson was the highest finishing Lake County team in both the boys and girls races on Saturday, securing seventh place in each.

“The course was very fast and our team came prepared to race against very tough competition,” Polson head coach Matt Seeley said.

Claudia Hewston led the way for the girls squad, notching a sixth-place finish in the race with a time of 18:48, just one second behind Big Sky’s Emily Sterbis.

The second-fastest time turned in by the Lady Pirates on the day actually came in the junior varsity race by Sandra Crossett, who won the event with a time of 21:12.

It was an “impressive high school debut” for the freshman according to Seeley, who has big plans for the talented up-and-comer.

“She will definitely be joining the varsity team next week,” Seeley said.

Hallie Hovenkotter was the second Polson runner across the line in the varsity race, shaving more than two minutes off her lifetime best to come in 37th place with a time of 21:33.

Rounding out the scoring runners for the girls was Amanda Stobie (21:41, 41st), Alisha Jore (22:14, 47th) and Marlee Seemann (22:23, 49th).

Travis Hayes was the top finisher for Polson in the boys race, coming in 26th with a time of 16:34.

Behind him and scoring for the Pirates was Tel Motichka in 41st place (17:23), Jared Rubel in 50th (17:44), Jimmy Bjorge in 51st (17:48) and Chaz Brewer in 59th (18:29).

Cade Howlett (18:33, 60th) and Thunder Morales (19:20, 70th) also competed for Polson in the race.

Polson will stay at home for its next meet, hosting the Polson Invitational on Sept. 22.

Mission

All 12 runners for Mission tallied personal record times on Saturday in Ronan, something that head coach Marc Cutler was very pleased to see from his team.

“It’s great to see each athlete improve,” Cutler said. “It was our goal at the beginning of the season and we are reaching this goal. I’m so proud of each of my athletes.”

Paden Alexander was by far the most impressive performer of the Lake County runners, taking third place in the boys race with a time of 15:19 behind two Class AA runners in Perrin and Peterman.

Nick Durglo was the second Bulldogs runner across the finish, coming in 71st place with a time of 19:26.

Tate Weingart was next with a 74th-place finish (19:38), followed by Jamie Mullins in 76th (19:40) and Karl Daniels in 80th (20:35).

Raymond Matt (20:36, 81st), Robbie Erickson (21:21, 85th) and Ethan Goss-Dickie (21:47, 86th) also ran for the Bulldogs.

The boys finished the meet in eighth place with 304 points.

In the girls race, Courtney Heath completed the course first for the Lady Bulldogs, clocking in at 22:27 for 50th place.

Kaylie Durglo finished next for the Mission girls in 58th place with a time of 24:09, ahead of Lindsay Johnson in 61st (26:00) and Carley Elverud in 62nd (26:21).

With only four runners, the Lady Bulldogs did not qualify for a team score.

The team’s next meet will be on Sept. 20 in Thompson Falls.

Ronan

Saturday’s meet had its share of ups and downs for the host team, which turned in a tie for ninth place in the boys race and an eighth-place finish in the girls.

Ronan’s boys team was hurt deeply in the race when its top runner Danny Romero suffered an asthma attack after completely the first mile of the race.

“It really took a toll on him and he just did not end up placing very well,” head coach Noelle Decker said. “He was real disappointed, but it was what it was and he made the best of it.”

He went on to finish 61st in the event with a time of 18:43, good enough for the Chiefs’ third-best time of the meet.

Zack Wagner was Ronan’s to finisher with a time of 18:07, which earned him 55th place.

Not too far behind him was Payton Adams, who took 56th with a time of 18:10.

Both Wagner and Adams’ times were personal bests and have Decker excited looking ahead.

“That was huge for us,” Decker said. “To put a kid in the 17s [Romero] and a couple in the low 18s at this point in the season, I’m pretty tickled with them.”

Robbie Hocker came in right on the tail of Romero in 62nd place, completing the course in 18:44. 

Jaden McNair was the fifth and final scoring runner for the Chiefs, finishing in 19:45 for 78th.

Decker said the top three runners have essentially solidified their spots on the squad, but she is still looking for the runners behind them to get closer to their times.

“We’re focusing on closing that gap between [the third, fourth and fifth runners],” Decker said. “Right now, they sit around 45 seconds to a minute apart, so we need to get that down and get them as bunched together as possible.”

Rhett Duffey, who Decker said “had the race of his life” in the JV race, has put himself in the running to fill one of these spots.

After finishing with a time of 19:27 on Saturday, he has nudged his way into the fifth varsity slot for the next meet.

The girls squad is in a similar situation, with freshman Jacey Probst and Kiana Howell pretty much set as the top two runners.

“They’ve just been consistently getting better each race and practice,” Decker said. “That’s good to have out of those two girls.”

In this race, Probst finished in 53rd (22:50), ahead of Howell in 55th place (23:19).

Decker said the rest of the lineup, however, is “wide open” and has continued to change on a week-to-week basis, a situation in which she said does have its positives.

“It’s not a bad thing, because its something for them to work for and it promotes little challenges within the team of who’s going to work hardest and earn those spots,” Decker said. 

Felicitas Ludwig (23:40, 57th), Jade Gray (25:25, 59th) and Angela North Piegan (25:36, 60th) held the last three scoring spots on varsity in this meet, but that could very well change down the line if someone else steps up.

Ronan will travel to Frenchtown for its next meet on Sept. 19 before heading to Polson on Sept. 22.

Arlee

The race on Saturday showed that Arlee’s runners still have a bit of a learning curve to overcome, but that didn’t stop each from improving their times from a week ago.

Head coach Katea Dreiling said maintaining a steady speed throughout the race was an issue for all of her runners at the meet and is something she plans to address in practice.

“Our focus for the coming weeks will be to even out the pace,” Dreiling said. ‘“Our runners had really fast first miles pretty much across the board, which really affected the second miles. We need to work on hitting a pace instead of running these roller coaster splits.”

However, Dreiling said she was impressed with how hard each runner is working and the flashes of potential she has seen from them.

“The team may be lacking in experience but their dedication and talent are definitely showing through,” Dreiling said.

For the boys, Al Plant ran a lifetime-best 18:56 to place 63rd, as the Warriors would go on to finish 11th as a team with 374 points.

Plant was followed by Isaac Desjarlais, who finished in 69th place with a time of 19:19.

Zach Felsman was next in line for Arlee, improving his top time by over a minute to finish in 72nd with a time of 19:27. Dreiling said he has consistently set lifetime personal records each week so far.

Also scoring for the Warriors in the meet was Dennis Ahenakew (20:47, 83rd) and Parker Holz (22:24, 87th). Chase Wiley competed in the race as well, finishing in 88th pace with a time of 23:53.

Arlee has just one girls runner at this point in the season in Jess Knoll , who is “representing Arlee well” according to Dreiling.

She cut down her time by 30 seconds from last week, crossing the finish line with a time of 26:49 and coming in 63rd.

The team will join Mission in Thompson Falls on Sept. 20 for its next meet.

Dreiling is looking forward to what’s ahead for her runners.

“We’re working really hard this year and setting some really challenging goals,” Dreiling said. 

Ronan Invitational Results

- Boys -

Top 10 Runners

1. Zach Perrin - Flathead - 14:28

2. Adam Peterman - Hellgate - 15:15

3. Paden Alexander - Mission - 15:19

4. Fischer Gangemi - Whitefish - 15:28

5. Drew Gottman - Hellgate - 15:30

6. Chris Herrick - Hellgate - 15:32

7. Aidan Theard - Anaconda - 15:33

8. Jace Kalbfleisch - Whitefish - 15:34

9. Matthew Brown - Big Sky - 15:37

10. Madison Bolton - Big Sky - 15:39

Team Scores 

1. Hellgate, 60. 2. Flathead, 63. 3. Big Sky, 104. 4. Whitefish, 105. 5. Hamilton, 113. 6. Corvallis, 174. 7. Polson, 227. 8. Mission, 304. T-9. Ronan, 312. T-9. Anaconda, 312. 11. Arlee. No Score: Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Plains, Thompson Falls. 

Polson Runners

26. Travis Hayes - 16:34

41. Tel Motichka - 17:22

50. Jared Rubel - 17:44

51. Jimmy Bjorge - 17:48

59. Chaz Brewer - 18:29

60. Cade Howlett - 18:33

70. Thunder Morales - 19:20

Mission Runners 

3. Paden Alexander - 15:19

71. Nick Durglo - 19:26

74. Tate Weingart - 19:38

76. Jamie Mullins - 19:40

80. Karl Daniels - 20:35

81. Raymond Matt - 20:36

85. Robbie Erickson - 21:21

86. Ethan Goss-Dickie - 21:47

Ronan Runners 

55. Zack Wagner - 18:07

56. Payton Adams - 18:10

61. Danny Romero - 18:43

62. Robbie Hocker - 18:44

78. Jaden McNair - 19:45

Arlee Runners

63. Al Plant - 18:56

69. Isaac Desjarlais - 19:19

72. Zach Felsman - 19:27

83. Dennis Ahenakew - 20:47

87. Parker Holz - 22:24

88. Chase Wiley - 23:53

Ronan Invitational Results

- Girls -

Top 10 Runners

1. Makena Morley - Bigfork - 17:14

2. Sabrina Sterbis - Big Sky - 17:56

3. Sadie Henderson - Corvallis - 18:09

4. Oliva Wood - Anaconda - 18:25

5. Emily Sterbis - Big Sky - 18:47

6. Claudia Hewston - Polson - 18:48

7. Kaycie Stewart - Corvallis - 18:50

8. Scarlet Kaplan - Hellgate - 19:11

9. Ellen Ruby - Hellgate - 19:12

10. Ellen Ipsen - Hellgate - 19:13

Team Scores 

1. *Hamilton, 66. 2. Hellgate, 66. 3. Big Sky, 98. 4. Corvallis, 105. 5. Flathead, 163. 6. Whitefish, 176. 7. Polson, 180. 8. Ronan, 2854. No Score: Arlee, Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Eureka, Hot Springs, Plains, Mission, Anaconda. *Awarded tie-breaker.

Polson Runners 

6. Claudia Hewston - 18:48

37. Hallie Hovenkotter - 21:33

41. Amanda Stobie - 21:41

47. Alisha Jore - 22:14

49. Marlee Seemann - 22:23

Mission Runners

50. Courtney Heath - 22:27

58. Kaylie Durglo - 24:09

61. Lindsay Johnson - 26:00

62. Carley Elverud - 26:21

Ronan Runners

53. Jacey Probst - 22:50

55. Kiana Howell - 23:19

57. Felicitas Ludwig - 23:40

59. Jade Gray - 25:25

60. Angela North Piegan - 25:36

Arlee Runners

63. Jessie Knoll - 26:49