Lake County sends 13 all-conference runners to state

The University of Montana Golf Course may have the region’s highest rate of foot traffic Saturday when high school cross country teams from all classifications gather in Missoula to wrap up the season and chase down some state hardware.

The Class AA boys will kick off a busy day at 11 a.m., followed by the Class A boys at 11:30 a.m., the Class AA girls at noon, Class A girls at 12:35 p.m., Class B boys at 1:10 p.m., Class C boys at 1:40 p.m., Class B girls at 2:10 p.m. and the Class C girls at 2:45 p.m.

Saturday’s field will include teams from five Lake County schools in Classes A, B and C. Thirteen individuals earned all-conference honors during last week’s divisional meets.

Polson

Ashtyn Wagner, who just missed all-conference honors last season, finished third at the Class A divisional meet Saturday at Dillon. Her time of 20:22 gives her a No. 9 ranking in the state. Halle Heninger earned all-conference honors for the third consecutive season and broke 21 minutes for the first time this year at Dillon. Joining them on the Lady Pirates team are Maddilyn Huffine and Katelyn Smith, both of whom trimmed more than a minute off their season-best times. Isabel Seeley was most improved with a 1:44 drop, and she’ll run Saturday as well.

The Lady Pirates finished fifth as a team at Dillon. They’re waiting to hear whether Adison Carlson will be cleared to join them this weekend.

Drifter Skillicorn was the lone Polson boy to earn an all-conference nod. He finished 11th Saturday with a new personal record of 17:42. Also running for Polson on Saturday are Noah Roberts, Ryan Dupuis, Kai McDonald, Brandt Heninger, Hayden Clairmont, David Bjorge and Noah Trosper, who trimmed a full three minutes off his personal best 5K time to land a spot on the state team.

The Pirates finished sixth as a team at Dillon.

Ronan

Olivia Heiner ran a personal-record 20:44.5 at Dillon for a fifth-place finish. Heiner was the only Ronan runner to finish all-conference. Freshman Saellah Hugs also turned in a personal best in finishing 31st. Heiner and Hugs were the only Maidens to compete at Dillon.

Lochlyn Finley, Elijah Tonasket, Keyan Pretty On Top, Tayen Edmo and Nicholas Dresen will represent Ronan in the Class A boys competition. Finley led the Chiefs with a 39th-place finish at divisionals. His time of 19:25.4 is a personal best.

Mission

St. Ignatius will send four all-conference runners to the Class B state meet. Junior Kooper Page finished 10th at the girls divisional meet Oct. 13 at Thompson Falls. Meanwhile, Mission had a trio of boys finish in the top 15 — Zoran LaFrombois finished seventh with teammates Thomas Nuila and Robbie Nuila right behind at eighth and ninth, respectively.

The Bulldogs will send nine boys and seven girls to Missoula. Unfortunately, they’ll be without their No. 1 runner, junior Andrew Rush, who suffered a fracture during a Sept. 23 meet at Thompson Falls.

Rounding out the boys team are Harlan Leishman, Erich Morigeau, Sawyer Pule, Kody Dillard, Leo Pierce and Landry Leishman. The Bulldogs finished third as a team at divisionals, behind Bigfork and Lincoln County.

Also running for the Lady Bulldogs are Cedar Hunt, Madyson Currie, Evelyn Pavlock, Kason Page, Heaven Diaz-Morigeau and Natalie Helser. Bigfork won the girls team title, while Mission finished fifth.

Arlee

Six girls and one boy will represent Arlee this weekend.

Freshman Saisha North Piegan was the Scarlets’ top finisher at Thompson Falls. She came in 20th at 26:04.8. Joining Piegan in Missoula will be Princess Bolen, McKirah Fisher, McKaryss Fisher, KaitiLyn Ellison, Shyla Shlieker.

Andrew Knoll, Arlee’s only male runner, is coming off a 35th-place finish at divisionals. He set a personal record with his lone sub-20 finish at Charlo in early October.

Charlo

Charlo will send five all-conference runners to state, and possibly a sixth runner who missed divisionals. Guinevere Contreras, Charlo’s lone senior, finished first in a field of six Class C girls at Thompson Falls on Oct. 13. Freshman Keanna Koenig was third. Danielle Davis has been out, but if she’s cleared to run Saturday the Lady Vikings can make a run at a team trophy.

All three Charlo boys finished with all-conference honors after the divisional meet. Hayden Smith was fourth, Branson Zempel was sixth, and Levi Nentwig finished eighth at Thompson Falls. The Charlo boys finished second behind Darby.

For complete divisional meet results, view the online version of this article at leaderadvertiser.com.

Western A Classic: Oct. 16 at Dillon

Girls team scores: 1, Corvallis 51; 2, Columbia Falls 61; 3, Hamilton 79; 4, Whitefish 89; 5, Polson 102; 6, Dillon 165; 7, Browning 174; 8, Frenchtown 180; 9, Libby 250; shorthanded: Ronan, Butte Central, Stevensville.

Girls Top 15 (all-conference): 1, Hannah Sempf (CF) 19:38.1; 2, Kiara Iron Heart (Br) 19:57.9; 3, Ashtyn Wagner (Pol) 20:22.0pr; 4, Laurie Davidson (Cor) 20:29.4; 5, Olivia Heiner (Ron) 20:44.5pr; 6, Amara Auch (Cor) 20:56.2; 7, Halle Heninger (Pol) 20:58.2sr; 8, Kinga Kari (Ham) 21:05.1; 9, Paetra Cooke (Wf) 21:10.9; 10, Casie Stornetta (Cor) 21:18.4; 11, Autumn Benson (Cor) 21:20.3; 12, Faye Holland (Dil) 21:31.0; 13, Marissa Schaeffer (CF) 21:42.0; 14, Ryanne Child (Ham) 21:50.9; 15, Siri Erickson (CF) 22:01.7

Local girls: POLSON – 3, Ashtyn Wagner 20:22.0pr; 7, Halle Heninger 20:58.2sr; 26, Maddilyn Huffine 23:13.5sr; 33, Isabel Seeley 24:02.0sr; 39, Katelyn Smith 24:44.6sr. RONAN – 5, Olivia Heiner 20:44.5pr; 31, Saellah Hugs 23:40.2pr.

Boys team scores: 1, Hamilton 20; 2, Whitefish 72; 3, Columbia Falls 98; 4, Corvallis 101; 5, Dillon 132; 6, Polson 134; 7, Browning 158; 8, Libby 213; 9, Ronan 242; 10, Stevensville 300; shorthanded: Butte Central, Frenchtown.

Boys Top 15 (all-conference): 1, Brinson Wyche (Cor) 16:43.3; 2, Colter Kirkland (Ham) 16:53.0; 3, Colter Purcell (Ham) 16:58.2; 4, Lane Cole (Ham) 16:58.4; 5, Tanner Nead (Ham) 17:27.3; 6, Harrison Silverio (Ham) 17:33.6; 7, Mason Genovese (Wf) 17:35.1; 8, Jacob Henson (Wf) 17:37.0; 9, Gavin Hagberg (Cor) 17:39.5; 10, Logan Peterson (CF) 17:41.1; 11, Drifter Skillicorn (Pol) 17:42.9PR; 12, Jack Davidson (Cor) 17:50.0; 13, Ben Steadman (Dil) 18:00.1; 14, Carver Tison (Ham) 18:09.8; 15, Landon Brown (Wf) 18:15.0

Local boys: POLSON – 11, Drifter Skillicorn 17:42.9pr; 26, Noah Roberts 18:58.8sr; 27, Ryan Dupuis 19:00.7; 34, Kai McDonald 19:09.5; 36, Brandt Heninger 19:12.1pr; 50, Hayden Clairmont 20:19.7; 59, Aiden Gfroerer 21:00.3. 12jv, Noah Trosper 20:12.9pr; 16jv, David Bjorge 20:23.1; 19jv, Kai Clifford 20:42.4pr; 43jv, Evan Seylor 23:58.5pr; 44jv, Lachlan Sloan 24:18.6pr. RONAN – 39, Loclyn Finely 19:25.4pr; 41, Elijah Tonasket 19:50.0; 46, Keyan PrettyOnTop 20:03.2; 56, Tayen Edmo 20:39.9; 62, Nicholas Dresen 21:24.9; 28jv, Ian Dillard 21:27.1; 37jv, Jacob Piapot 22:35.2pr; 38jv, Brett Myers 22:41.2pr.

Western B-C Divisional: Oct. 13 at Thompson Falls

Class B

Girls team scores: 1, Bigfork 52; 2, Deer Lodge 57; 3, Eureka 63; 4, Anaconda 95; 5, Mission 107; 6, Arlee 131; shorthanded: Missoula Loyola, Plains, Thompson Falls.

Girls Top 15 (all-conference): 1, Taylor Lancaster (Eur) 21:29.71; 2, Faith Palmer (TF) 21:51.65; 3, Tabitha Raymond (Bf) 22:10.08; 4, Mahali Kuzyk (Bf) 22:24.19; 5, Cora Pesanti (Ana) 22:33.58; 6, Meela Mitchel (Ana) 22:50.50; 7, Natalie Spring (DL) 22:59.71; 8, Lucy Reynolds (Eur) 23:00.13; 9, Mollie Nichols (TF) 23:05.01; 10, Kooper Page (MSI) 23:33.98; 11, Claire Jensen (Bf) 23:39.59; 12, Erika Dowling (Bf) 23:42.60; 13, Madeline Schrecengost (DL) 23:51.93; 14,. Eden Butler (DL) 24:36.36; 15, Jaina Meador (DL) 24:41.23.

Local girls: MISSION – 10, Kooper Page 23:33.98; 22, Cedar Hunt 26:16.49; 30, Evelyn Pavlock-Ferencz 27:33.59; 33, Natalie Helser 28:04.30; 36, Kason Page 29:00.46; 42, Heaven Diaz-Morigeau 32:30.15. ARLEE – 20, Saisha NorthPiegan 26:04.76; 27, Princess Bolen 26:34.78; 35, McKirah Fisher 28:54.59; 37, McKaryss Fisher 29:28.39; 38, KaityLynn Ellison 29:49.38.

Boys team scores: 1, Bigfork 40; 2, Eureka 41; 3, Mission 93; 4, Thompson Falls 97; 5, Missoula Loyola 110; 6, Anaconda 159; 7, Deer Lodge 177; shorthanded: Arlee, Plains.

Boys Top 15: 1, Isaac Reynolds (Eur) 16:54.70; 2, Gavin Bates (Eur) 16:56.82; 3, Jack Jensen (Bf) 16:56.89; 4, Will Hyatt (TF) 17:17.86; 5, Elliot Sanford (Bf)17:42.34; 6, Ryder Nollan (Bf) 17:43.17; 7, Zoran LaFrombois (MSI) 17:45.52; 8, Thomas Nuila (MSI) 17:48.85; 9, Robbie Nuila (MSI) 17:55.46; 10, Jacob Buckingham (Eur) 18:01.83; 11, North Nollan (Bf) 18:13.97; 12, Michael Pitman (Eur) 18:30.23; 13, Cael Thilmony (TF) 18:30.26pr; 14, John Read-Smith (LSH) 18:35.52; 15, Bo Modderman (Bf) 18:53.81.

Local boys: MISSION – 7, Zoran LaFrombois 17:45.52; 8, Thomas Nuila 17:48.85; 9, Robbie Nuila 17:55.46; 32, Harlon Leishman 20:47.85; 41, Sawyer Pule 22:14.80; 42, Kody Dillard 22:51.09; 13jv, Leo Peirce 23:15.66; 15jv, Landry Leishman 23:57.93. ARLEE – 35, Drew Knoll 21:01.84.

Class C

Girls – 1, Guinevere Contreras (Charlo), 23:49.28; 2, Hadassah Wilson (Darby) 24:20.69; 3, KeAnna Koenig (Charlo) 27:38.26; 4, Flo Erkinger (Darby) 28:54.53P; 5, Sasha Kifer (Hot Springs) 34:19.26; 6, Linnea Petersen (Drummond) 36:23.91.

Boys – 1, Scott Parke (Drummond) 18:16.56; 2, Cullen Duggan (Darby) 19:17.84; 3, William Martin (Darby) 19:55.68; 4, Hayden Smith (Charlo) 20:56.01; 5, Johnathan Pfendler (Drummond) 21:56.53; 6, Branson Zempel (Charlo) 22:04.10; 7, Dillon MacIlwraith (Darby) 24:27.27; 8, Levi Nentwig (Charlo) 24:44.27; 9, Elijah Campbell (Hot Springs) 24:54.92.