Mountain West Classic Cross Country Meet
Author: MT43 News Sports Reporter
Mountain West Classic Cross Country Meet
MT43 News Sports Reporter
The Mountain West Classic held on the University of Montana Golf Course is one of the premier cross-country races in the Northwest.
Saturday, September 28th was a beautiful day for running as over 3000 runners from across Montana, Idaho and Washington representing more than 100 schools lined up for their races. This course is moderate in difficulty with gradual incline/declines and one giant hill will also be the host of the Montana all-state cross country meet on October 26th.
The cooler morning temperatures equated to fast times for both Junior Varsity squads, whereby seven of the Bulldogs again clocked their personal best times. This means they are getting faster as the season progresses, which is great news for racing fans.
Up first were the women with sophomore Arabella McDaniel (25:28 PR) finishing first for the Bulldogs in 155th. Following her were Shalyn Sentinella (26:50 PR), Logan Barkhurst (29:48 PR), and Fiona Nelson (35:28 SR) in 220th, 314th and 371st, respectively. Bella, Shalyn and Logan are in their first year running XC for Broadwater High School and all recorded their personal bests in a field of 380 runners.
Up next for the Bulldogs were the Junior Varsity Men in the largest field of the day of 502 hoofers. Senior Kaden Bruins (20:17 SR) ran his first race of the season placing in 146th. Luke Tullos (21:14 PR) in 224th and Patrick Gossard (21:17 PR) in 226th both also clocked their personal best times at 5K.
Next up was a trio of juniors: Keaton Cavasos (22:26 PR) in 308th, Samuel Flesch (25:14) in 437th, and Alex Johnson (25:53 PR) in 448th. Senior Ross MacDonald (26:04) in 451st completed the team, which finished in 26th with a combined score of 801 points.
The Varsity Men were next with 494 runners on the course. Nolan Flynn (18:08) started it off for the Bulldogs in 161st with Gavin Green (19:16) next in 292nd and Rylan Hoveland (20:12) in 360th.
It was close to noon when the 407 Varsity Ladies’ gun blew their start. Kyla Meissner (20:00 SR) led the Bulldogs coming in 28th with Elaine MacDonald (21:04 PR) in 79th, both of whom were running the Classic high school course for the first time. Kaelyn Sangray was running the course for the sixth time (21:48 SR) followed in 140th.
453 Middle School Boys were next on the course which was shortened from 3.1 miles to 1.3 miles. Clayton Rice (8:43) led the way in 74th with Everett Kirksey (11:18) in 304th and Jayden Flynn (12:19) in 373rd. Jayden took almost four minutes off his time on the same course last year!
The Middle School Girls' field of 417 runners was the last race of the day. Kathryn Six (10:07) was 101st, with Courtney Webber (10:49) in 170th, Kensley Sangray (11:33) in 227th, Lydia Brakefield (12:03) in 260th, Madison Vogl (12:10) in 276th, Anna Busscher (13:00) in 317th and Erilyn Strait (14:51) in 363rd. The Townsend girls placed 23rd as a team with 642 points.
Meets like the Mountain West Classic bring huge fields and most competitors rely on their times to determine their success.
The upcoming Headwaters Invitational in Three Forks will be the first opportunity this season for the Bulldogs to compete strictly against class B and C runners on Friday morning, October 4th.
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PhotoCredit: MT43 News Sports Reporter Photo
Image 1 Caption: Sophomore Arabella McDaniel establishes her new PR
MT43 News Sports Reporter Photo
Image 2 Caption: Sophomore Rylan Hoveland thunders down the hill at the Mountain West Classic.
MT43 News Sports Reporter Photo
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