CATS/KATS FINISHED 1ST FOR 'A' SCHOOLS @ FLATHEAD INVITE

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Sweet Sixteen  

Published: Saturday, September 12, 2009 11:49 PM CDT 
Flathead cross country team just one point from perfect at meet

By DILLON TABISH/The Daily Inter Lake

The Braves are back.

At the Glacier View cross country course on a sunburst Saturday, the Flathead boys, wearing the bright orange and black singlets as always, reminded the hundreds of spectators and runners in attendance of the great Braves cross country teams of the storied past.

Flathead finished 1-2-3-4-6 for an astounding low-score total of 16 points, one away from the perfect score of 15.

Freshman Zach Perrin won the 3-mile race by a football field at Kidsports Complex in front of cheering onlookers marveling at his time of 16:01. Teammate Leif Castren, a senior, came in 23 seconds later for second, 16:24, followed by fellow seniors Jesse Bennett, 16:27, and Alec Surynt, 16:33. Hunter Schutt rounded out the top five for Flathead with a sixth-place 16:57.

"I'm speechless," said Flathead cross country coach Paul Jorgensen.

Jorgensen, in his 37th year as head coach, said the Braves have achieved the perfect score at smaller meets, but never at one as big as Saturday's, which consisted of 12 boys teams and almost 100 runners.

"I'd rank it right up there with some of our better teams' (performances)," Jorgensen said of the showing.

The Braves last earned a 16-point total at the 1999 Flathead Invite at the Woodland Park course, which was the site of the meet until it moved across town in 2002.

This was the seventh Flathead Invite victory this decade for the boys team and the first since 2006. The Braves placed third last year with 120 points.

"It was really fun in this race to keep looking back and seeing our number-five (runner) move up in the ranks and to hear at the top of the hill 'Flathead you're going for a perfect score,'" Castren said afterward. "That was just a really cool feeling and that got me really excited."

Missoula Sentinel finished second with 68 points and Columbia Falls took third, 98.

Sixteen points ended up being the difference in the girls race as Missoula Hellgate edged Flathead in the team scoring, 69-85. The Bravettes clumped together four runners in the top 20 - 11th-place Paige Bouma, 20:46; 16th-place Sierra Maxwell, 21:05; 17th-place Hannah Macfarlane, 21:23; and 19th-place Kathleen Barth, 21:37.

"I'm really happy with how the girls ran," Jorgensen said. "Our times are much improved over those from the time trial we ran earlier. We're really excited about this group of kids this season."

Bigfork senior Kayla Carlson ran her usual smart race and fought back from eighth place midway through to finish second, 19:40.

Earlier in the morning she took a two-hour ACT test at Flathead Valley Community College and raced across the street minutes before the competition.

"I had about 10 minutes to warm up, generally I have about 40," she said smiling afterward. "It's OK. It's rewarding in the end. I'm happy with how it went. I'm faster than I was last year so that's always a plus. And everyone ran really well and it was very competitive."

Carlson remains one of the top girls distance runners in the state and has her eye on running next year in college, she said.

"It's a lot of pressure because there's so many fast people and you're trying to compete for scholarship money, but it's a rewarding experience," she said. "So I'm excited, it's my senior year and it's time to kick butt, I guess."

Carlson's classmate Bridger Mahlum finished 16th in the boys race, 17:27.

Glacier junior Rachel Hart paced the Wolfpack girls with a seventh-place finish, 20:27. Teammate Heather Fraley came in 14th, 21:00, and the Wolfpack took fourth as a team with 135 points.

The times in the girls race were average to those of recent years, while the boys race was considerably faster than last year despite the temperature holding around 80 degrees. Last year, only three runners broke 17 minutes. This year, eight runners were 17 minutes and under, the most since 2007 and 2006 when there was 12.

"It's one of the hardest (courses)," Hart said of Glacier View. "The hills I don't think are the worst part. I think it's so hot and there's no shade, and it's gravel."

Thirteenth-place Patric Jessat, 17:14, and 18th-place Shawn Whitman, 17:30, paced the Columbia Falls squad.

"I was really pleased with the way the boys ran," first-year Columbia Falls coach Richard Menicke said. "I'm ecstatic with this. Our goal was to come out and race well in a competitive field and I think we did that."

Menicke credited the always-important fifth runner - a key scoring component at the state meet - which on Saturday was Pascal Jessat for Columbia Falls.

"He really stepped it up today," Menicke said. "He was what made it happen for us today."

The Columbia Falls girls team took seventh and was led by 21st-place Leesa Benner, 21:49.

Polson's Mesa Starkey finished 13th, 20:54.

Boys

Flathead 16, Missoula Sentinel 68, Columbia Falls 98, Missoula Hellgate 120, Great Falls CMR 158, Browning 163, Great Falls 166, Missoula Loyola 186, Glacier 211, Cut Bank 271, Polson 275, Ronan 323

Top 30

Zach Perrin, Flathead, 16:01

Leif Castren, Flathead, 16:24

Jesse Bennett, Flathead, 16:27

Alec Surynt, Flathead, 16:33

Ben Vaughan, Great Falls, 16:51

Hunter Schutt, Flathead, 16:57

Troy Fraley, Glacier, 16:58

Mike Evans, Missoula Loyola, 17:00

Josh Kornish, Missoula Sentinel, 17:01

Will Strauss, Great Falls, 17:02

Josh Panasuk, Butte, 17:08

Jacob Turner, Missoula Sentinel, 17:11

Patric Jessat, Columbia Falls, 17:14

Josh Hamilton, Missoula Sentinel, 17:15

Michael Bowles, Missoula Hellgate, 17:19

Bridger Mahlum, Bigfork, 17:27

Sancho Ridesatthedoor, M. Hellgate, 17:28

Shawn Whitman, Columbia Falls, 17:30

Mark Messmer, Missoula Sentinel, 17:32

Erik Anderson, Missoula Sentinel, 17:33

Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls, 17:36

Patrick Rayl, Great Falls CMR, 17:37

Kit Mayer, Missoula Loyola, 17:37

Derrick Williams, Columbia Falls, 17:40

Thomas Reevis, Browning, 17:46

Joel Cartwright, Great Falls CMR, 17:47

Adam Peterman, Missoula Hellgate, 17:47

Drew Keller, Shelby, 17:49

Matt Hall, Missoula Big Sky, 17:51

Eric Patyk, Flathead, 17:52

Girls

Missoula Hellgate 69, Flathead 85, Great Falls 100, Glacier 135, Missoula Sentinel 157, Missoula Big Sky 164, Columbia Falls 167, Browning 211, Cut Bank 229, Great Falls CMR 231, Polson 236, Belt 279

Top 30

Paige Gilchrist, Missoula Hellgate, 19:15

Kayla Carlson, Bigfork, 19:40

Rachel Stewart, Great Falls, 19:49

Molly Crum, Great Falls, 19:54

Taylor Rather, Missoula Big Sky, 19:59

Keely West, Great Falls CMR, 20:06

Rachael Hart, Glacier, 20:27

Mariah Gondeiro, Belt, 20:33

Sara Coonce, Missoula Big Sky, 20:44

Ashley Baker, Cut Bank, 20:45

Paige Bouma, Flathead, 20:46

Gilia Patterson, Missoula Hellgate, 20:50

Mesa Starkey, Polson, 20:54

Heather Fraley, Glacier, 21:00

Tessa Grigsby, Missoula Hellgate, 21:04

Sierra Maxwell, Flathead, 21:05

Hannah Macfarlane, Flathead, 21:23

Megan Herring, Missoula Sentinel, 21:30

Kathleen Barth, Flathead, 21:37

Kassandra Reid, Butte, 21:44

Leesa Benner, Columbia Falls, 21:49

Nikki Kuenzel, Missoula Hellgate, 21:51

Amanda McNeese, Great Falls, 21:52

Ralonda Wall, Browning, 21:56

Lily Clarke, Missoula Hellgate, 21:59

Kirsten Myre, Great Falls CMR, 22:00

April Dower, Great Falls, 22:03 Cheyenne Cook, Flathead, 22:11

Breanna Leggitt, Flathead, 22:15

Kearsten Hedges, Glacier, 22:17