Pirates, Lady Pirates finish strong at state in Kalispell

POLSON — The Polson Pirates girls and boys cross country teams finished well Saturday at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell.

Headed into the season, Lady Pirates’ Coach Matt Seeley had “high expectations.”

“We had some bad breaks during the year with a few kids not running as fast as we thought,” Seeley said. “Ryan Harrop came through and did pretty well. He placed 5th. The good news is we didn’t lose any runners to graduation plus we will add a few more next year that we didn’t have.”

Polson Lady Pirates’ Bea Frissell overcame knee problems and finished with all-state honors and a third place finish.

“Even with Bea’s knee problems and anxiety about the conference race, she came through and really ran well and ran smart,” Seeley said. “She started back a ways and slowly moved up to third.”

Teammate Molly Sitter finished 11th in the race.

“These two girls led the team all year and really came through on the biggest stage,” Seeley said. “Not far behind was Naima Crowl, who capped her first full cross country season with 21st place, just barely missing both all-state honors and the 20-minute barrier.”

Seeley said he felt his team responded well to the pressure of the event.

“That was the big pressure of the big race and it meant different things for different kids,” Seeley said. “Some kids thrive on it and some don’t. You don’t know how state is ever going to look. You have to be ready to race well, keep your head in the right place, stay excited and run hard. That is a balancing act a little bit.”

The Pirates’ cross country team also “ran well,” according to Seeley.

“The boys team really ran hard and exceeded expectations by breaking into the top-10 with a 9th place team finish,” Seeley said. “This was a big step from finishing 15th last season.”

Sophomore Quin Stewart finished the entire race 20th overall. Zach Evertz finished behind the cross country line placing 52 with a time of 17 minutes, 41 seconds and senior Matt Sitter and sophomore Jonah DuCharme followed closely behind, finishing under 18-minutes. Freshman Kedrick Baker wrapped up the scoring for the team. Baker placed 88 and finished with a time of 18 minutes, 27 seconds.

“This team has worked so hard all year that is felt very satisfying to have them show their best performance in their season finale,” Seeley said.

MHSA All-Class State Cross Country Meet

Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016 Rebecca Farm, Kalispell

Class A Boys

Frenchtown 66, Corvallis 72, Fergus (Lewistown) 102, [9th], Polson 269,

Individuals – 1, Carson Jessop, Corvallis, 15:39.0; 20, Quin Stewart, Polson, 16:31.6; 52, Zach Evertz, Polson, 17:41.2; 54, Matt Sitter, Polson, 17:44.0; 55, Jonah Ducharme, Polson, 17:44.3; 88, Kedrick Baker, Polson, 18:27.9; 90, Keegan Brackey, Polson, 18:31.6; 95, Makauly Morrison, Polson, 18:40.7.

Class A Girls

Team Scores – Hardin 91, Whitefish 97, Corvallis 115, Columbia Falls 138, [5th] Polson 152, Belgrade 198,

Individuals – 1, Pipi Eitel, Belgrade, 18:17.5; 2, Kimberly Peacock, Columbia Falls, 18:31.0; 3, Beatrix Frissell, Polson, 18:49.2; 11, Molly Sitter, Polson, 19:28.6; 21, Naima Crowl, Polson, 20:02.7; 56, Gwen Seeley, Polson, 21:30.9; 61, Malia Seeley, Polson, 21:39.8; 63, Quinn Motichka, Polson, 21:46.4; 96, Addy Day, Polson, 23:06.9.

Class B Boys

Team Scores – Broadwater (Townsend) 48, Manhattan 95, St. Labre 108, Glasgow 152, [5th] Ronan 153, Individuals – 1, Bryant Edgerton, Broadwater, 15:54.5; 10, Colin Maloney, Libby, 16:51.4; 12, Jackson Duffey, Ronan, 16:55.4; 22, James Normandeau, Ronan, 17:11.3; 24, Daniel Koehler, Ronan, 17:15.8; 37, Nathan Dennis, Ronan, 17:40.6; 58, Kiry Detwiler, Ronan, 18:05.6; 61, Troy Matt, St Ignatius, 18:14.0; 93, Caden Rhine, Ronan, 19:05.1; 104, Michael Koehler, Ronan, 19:33.0;

Class B Girls

Team Scores — Manhattan 67, Bigfork 83, Colstrip 164, Lincoln County (Eureka) 164, St. Ignatius 598,

Individuals — 1, Bryn Morley, Bigfork, 17:53.4; 2, Anya Young, Bigfork, 18:56.5; 11, Alicia Kalenak, Bigfork, 19:57.9; 18, Ashley McCready, Ronan, 20:26.3; 31, Haile Norred, Bigfork, 21:08.8; 57, Karolyna Buck, St Ignatius, 22:20.4; 72, Penni Weyant, Ronan, 22:48.5; 97, Yvonne Baty, St Ignatius, 23:56.9; 134, Elsa Kylen, St Ignatius, 25:51.4; 145, Amy Dillard, St Ignatius, 26:41.7; 157, Julia Maklovich, Ronan, 29:18.2; 165, Keisha Dillard, St Ignatius, 30:45.4;

Team Scores — Manhattan Christian 18, Roberts 39, Belt/Centerville 53, Charlo 106, Arlee 221, Individuals — 1, Evan Duggan, Darby, 15:58.6; 21, Wills Degrandpre, Charlo, 18:00.3; 40, Connor Koenig, Charlo, 18:39.6; 50, Devon Siech, Charlo, 19:02.0; 55, Braden Jolma, Winnett-Melstone, 19:10.8;

18:09.4; 71, Jason Miller, Arlee, 20:02.6; 78, Ivory Brien, Arlee, 20:13.0; 86, Skyler Titsworth, Arlee, 20:32.9; 87, Madiah Morin, Arlee, 20:33.0; 98, James Crazyboy, Arlee, 21:09.2; 102, Brendan Ryan, Arlee, 21:19.2; 104, Cordell Schaak, Two Eagle River, 21:39.3; 105, Chasen Curley, Two Eagle River, 21:40.3; 118, Nate Delaney, Charlo, 22:53.0; 129, Francois Pepion, Arlee, 24:43.6;

Class C Girls

Team Scores — Winnett-Melstone 21, Charlo 36, Cascade 75, Arlee 96,

Individuals — 1, Gracie Lang, Darby, 19:18.1; 5, Natalie Yocum, Arlee, 20:14.1; 6, Brooklyn Foust, Charlo, 20:22.0; 10, Jaden Coston, Charlo, 20:31.0; 19, Shawntaya Nelson, Arlee, 21:37.1; 20, Adriana Johnson, Charlo, 21:42.4; 37, Brynn Jolma, Winnett-Melstone, 23:31.2; 42, Tyrah Hammond, Charlo, 23:50.4; 61, Jennabelle Gardner, Charlo, 25:50.1; 74, Summer Darcangelo, Arlee, 27:41.3; 77, Malachi Deroche, Arlee, 28:12.9; 79, Melaia Matt, Arlee, 28:49.7; 81, Ali North, Arlee, 30:11.2; 82, Frankie Wright, Arlee, 30:12.4;