Lady Pirates, Pirates cross country have 'banner day' at Whitefish Invitational
The Polson Pirates boys and girls cross country teams had a “banner day” according to their Coach Matt Seeley Thursday at the Whitefish Invitational.
The Lady Pirates were again led by Bea Frissell, who set another personal best with a time of 18 minutes, 34 seconds. Gwen Seeley and Siera Donovan had the biggest improvements, according to Seeley.
Gwen Seeley ran a time of 20 minutes, 33 seconds and Donovan finished with a time of 24 minutes, 45 seconds.
“The girls finished second as a team behind Whitefish and just one point ahead of Columbia Falls,” Seeley said. “This means that they are still in the hunt for a top three trophy at state, but it will take big performances, especially from all the varsity scorers. Thursday’s race showed that they are on track to peak at just the right time.”
The Lady Pirates’ Molly Sitter also shattered the 20-minute platue with a time of 19 minutes, 27 seconds.
Stewart has ‘breakthrough’ performance at Whitefish Invite
The Pirates’ runner Quin Stewart led his teammates with a time of 16 minutes, 38 seconds.
“Stewart, who has now moved up to the 12th best time on the Montana Class A list for this season, has a legitimate shot at both all-conference and all-state honors in the next two meets,” Seeley said.
Zach Evertz finished with a time of 17 minutes, 27 seconds and Matt Sitter finished with a time of 17 minutes, 28 seconds. They finished second and third among the Pirates teammates at Whitefish.
Jonah DuCharme also ran a time of 17 minutes, 56 seconds. Coby DeBruin finished with a time of 18 minutes, 6 seconds.
“Zach, Matt, and Jonah also hit big milestones by going sub-18 for the first time this year, and Coby closed out his season with an 18:06,” Seeley said.
Seeley continues to see improvement amongst his runners.
“I have been very impressed by the hard workouts in practices the last couple of weeks, and it is great to see dividends on the race course for all of these kids,” Seeley said.
Freshman Kasen Heninger finished with a time of 18 minutes, 52 seconds. Keegan Brackley, another Pirate freshman, also finished with a time of 18 minutes, 54 seconds. Seeley said one of the biggest improvements came with the time of Trevor Sanderson, who finished with 27 minutes, 4 seconds.
“Freshmen Kasen and Keegan broke 19 and surged up to the 7th and 8th spots on the team at the finish line,” Seeley said. “Once again, the biggest improvement was Trevor, who dropped another two minutes to 27:04.”
The Pirates’ next race is the Western A Fall Classic Conference Championship on Saturday at Fairmont Hot Springs.
Whitefish Invitational
Polson finishers
Girls Team Totals: Whitefish 40, Polson 60, Columbia Falls 61
Top Lady Pirate Individuals
1 Kimberly Peacock, Columbia Falls 18:19.78
2 Beatrix Frissell, Polson 18:34.74
6 Molly Sitter, Polson 19:27.38
13 Naima Crowl, Polson 20:31.33
15 Gwen Seeley, Polson 20:33.47
27, Quinn Motichka, Polson, 22:21.92
30, Malia Seeley, Polson, 22:57.72
33, Addy Day, Polson, 23:11.93
47, Siera Donovan, Polson, 24:32.97
51, Sierra Garcia, Polson, 24:45.19
56, Elizabeth Bjorge, Polson, 25:35.98
Middle School 2-mile
6, Nina Barfoot, Polson, 13:02.84
12, Grace Hobbs, Polson, 13:38.45
13, River Shoemaker, Polson, 13:39.31
18, Ali Hupka, Polson, 14:03.79
Boys Team Totals
Columbia Falls 30, Whitefish 36, Polson 74, Eureka 95, Thompson Falls 124, Browning 185, Cut Bank 192
Top Pirate Individuals
1 Sage Wanner, Columbia Falls 15:44.81
2 Quin Stewart, Polson 16:38.21
13 Zach Evertz, Polson 17:27.19
15 Matt Sitter, Polson 17:28.46
21 Jonah DuCharme, Polson 17:56.55
25 Coby DeBruin, Polson 18:06.94
27, McKauley Morrison, Polson, 18:08.35
32, Kedrick Baker, Polson, 18:22.21
39, Kasen Heninger, Polson, 18:52.97
41, Keegan Brackey, Polson, 18:54.66
45, Aubrey Frissell, Polsn, 19:01.33
54, David Castillo, Polson, 19:40.56
62, Zane Benson, Polson, 20:10.57
72, Aidan Nielsen, Polson, 21:09.87
85, Asa Askan, Polson, 22:38.08
91, Micah Askan, Polson, 24:22.10
94, Trevor Sanderson, Polson, 27:04.65
Middle School 2-mile
1, Trenton Adler, Polson, 11:10.05
5, Asa Brown, Polson, 11:47.54
8, Cade Lanier, Polson, 12:01.25
12, David Iliff, Polson, 12:19.05
25, Sean Stewart, Polson, 12:51.29
26, Dillon Omeasoo, Polson, 12:51.55