Cross Country Roundup: Area harriers prep for postseason
Mission Valley cross country teams wrapped up their final meets of the regular schedule this past week.
Area Western B-C teams competed at the Fish Hatchery course in Arlee. All five of the Mission girls made the top 20, led by Cedar Hunt and Madyson Currie with top-10 finishes.
Charlo’s Guinevere Contreras and Aryal Love both made the top 20, as did Arlee’s Princess Bolen.
The Mission boys captured top team honors with a 3-4-5 finish. Andrew Rush and Thomas Nuila turned in sub-19s, while Zoran LaFrombois posted a sub-20. Mission's fourth runner, Erich Morigeau, and Drew Knoll of Arlee both turned in sub-22s that were close to personal bests.
Most Western A teams participated in the Western A Invite at Rebecca Farm this past Saturday with an opportunity to preview the upcoming State A meet course. A few did not make the trip on account of COVID-19 precautions.
The Lady Pirates of Polson took third in the team standings with top-20 finishes from Halle Heninger, Karli Owens, Adison Carlson, Ashtyn Wagner and Maddilyn Huffine. Ronan’s Olivia Heiner turned in a personal best to place 12th, while teammate Brogan Youngren likewise turned in a personal best that was less than five seconds from cracking the top 20.
On the boys side, Polson’s Ryan Dupuis and Drifter Skillicorn both turned in personal-best sub-19s. Ronan’s Zarec Couture placed 15th with a time just a few hundredths of a second from breaching the sub-18 barrier.
Conspicuously absent from the leaderboard was Ronan's Brant Heiner, who took a respite from running at this event. Heiner has taken top medalist honors at half a dozen runs this season, and his trio of most recent times would have been enough to blemish the top tier sweep by the Hamilton boys.
Defending State A champion Brynnli Poulsen of Hamilton won the girls race with the lone sub-19 among the field.
Polson head coach Matt Seeley was pleased with his team’s performance.
"All of our hard training appears to be paying off at the right time as 18 of our 21 runners recorded season best times, some by significant margins. It was pretty exciting to see the kids step up and compete at their best."
Area class B-C runners were originally scheduled to compete in the Western B-C Divisional at Thompson Falls on Tuesday, but that event was cancelled over COVID concerns. A supplementary meet at the Linda Vista Golf Course in Missoula has been scheduled for Friday. Charlo runners will not be in attendance at that event.
Northwest A harriers from Ronan and Polson will compete in the Western A Fall Classic in Whitefish on Saturday.
2020 Western A Invite
Rebecca Farms, Columbia Falls
5k course, Saturday
Girls
Team scores
1, Columbia Falls 33; 2, Corvallis 42; 3, Polson 61; 4, Whitefish 85; 5, Frenchtown 118; 5: Hamilton, Ronan, Libby.
POLSON – 7, Halle Heninger 21:15.36; 13, Karli Owens 22:11.68; 14, Adison Carlson 22:23.08; 16, Ashtyn Wagner 22:33.46; 20, Maddilyn Huffine 22:47.98; 28, Katelyn Smith 23:40.58; 32, Isabel Seeley 24:04.73.
RONAN – 12, Olivia Heiner 21:54.32; 21, Brogen Youngren 22:51.60; 26, Kaona Trahan 23:15.38; 36, Nichole Koehler 26:35.98.
Top 5: Brynnli Poulsen (Ham) 18:55.46; Lara Erickson (CF) 19:38.50; Olivia Buoy (Cor) 20:11.21; Hannah Sempf (CF) 20:33.36; Katie Gleason (Cor) 20:38.71.
Boys
Team scores
1, Hamilton 17; 2, Whitefish 61; 3, Corvallis 90; 4, Columbia Falls 97; 5, Polson 123; 6, Ronan 137; 5: Libby, Frenchtown.
POLSON – 16, Ryan Dupuis 18:00.11; 20, Drifter Skillicorn 18:28.42; 25, Noah Roberts 19:03.47; 31, Aiden Gfroerer 19:31.91; 36, David Bjorge 19:59.74; 40, Sean Stewart 20:22.82.
RONAN – 15, Zarec Couture 18:00.02; 26, Dillon Omeasoo 19:06.53; 33, Michael Irvine 19:37.49; 35, Elijah Tonasket 19:55.73; 37, Keyan Pretty On Top 19:59.75; 39, Landon Bishop 20:17.95.
Top 5: Colter Purcell (Ham) 16:40.75; Lane Cole (Ham) 16:45.36; Colter Kirkland (Ham) 16:50.13; Deneb Linton (Wf) 17:04.93; Tanner Nead (Ham) 17:11.90.
2020 Fish Hatchery Challenge & Guppy Run
Arlee
2k, Thursday, Oct. 8
Girls
Team scores: 1, Mission 23; 2, Deer Lodge/Powell County 32; 5: Arlee, Charlo, Drummond , Loyola Sacred Heart, Bigfork, Seeley Swan.
MISSION – 3, Cedar Hunt 23:11.34; 6, Madyson Currie 24:56.64; 11, Kooper Page 27:06.43; 14, Ellanah Flatlip 28:23.67; 18, Emmy Flatlip 29:50.88.
CHARLO – 7, Guinevere Contreras 25:03.96; 16, Aryal Love 28:58.90.
ARLEE – 15, Princess Bolen 28:39.95; 22, Natallyia Martin 37:35.11; 24, Isabell Mills 41:54.08.
Boys
Team scores: 1, Mission 51; 2, Loyola-Sacred Heart 59; 3, Bigfork 61; 4, Darby 86; 5, Deer Lodge 96; 6, Arlee 132; <7: Charlo, Drummond, Hot Springs, Seeley-Swan.
MISSION – 3, Andrew Rush 18:28.85; 4, Thomas Nuila 18:29.17; 5, Zoran LaFrombois 19:04.87; 18, Erich Morigeau 21:10.10; 32, Leo Peirce 23:01.07; 35, Landry Leishman 24:30.39; 37, Isaiah Nasewytewa 24:43.73; 41, Connor Burke 30:47.39.
CHARLO – 30, Hayden Smith 22:58.64.
ARLEE – 24, Drew Knoll 21:55.30; 28, R.J. Knoll 22:34.49; 33, Sage Nicolai 23:33.21; 38, Deon RedCloud 25:43.48; 39, Tavin LaPahie 27:19.95.