Bulldog Cross Country at the Jefferson Opener
Author: MT43News sports reporter
MT43 News Sports Reporter
Fog descending into the valley around Boulder made for a picturesque start to the 2025 Cross Country season on Friday, August 30th at the Jefferson Opener. The Bulldogs kicked off the season at Coach Dolan’s alma mater alongside eight other schools: Helena Capital, Butte, Anaconda, Ennis, Three Forks, Twin Bridges, Whitehall and Jefferson.
Every week our runners compete on a 5-kilometer course (3.1 miles), which in Boulder is a one-loop trek with lots of uphill and various running surfaces. Competitors start through town, meandering to the highway before taking a dirt two-track around and up to the cemetery before finally reentering town, finishing at Veteran’s Park. Always a challenge for the first meet of the season!
The Junior Varsity teams took to the course with a combined men’s and women’s race to start the morning. The JV men consist of a squad of all new faces to the high school XC team, a trio of freshmen and a duo of sophomores new to running. Clayton Rice placed 11th with a time of 21:17 to lead the Bulldogs, followed by Urijah Duede (24:06) and Gavin Johnson (24:06), who finished 28th and 30th. Isaiah Lapsley in 31st (24:46) and Trey Coker in 37th (25:42) rounded out the JV squad, who took fourth place as a unit with 91 points. Freshmen Addy Mosher (26:34) and Tana Santi (26:50) finished back-to-back in 10th and 11th for the ladies. Junior Fiona Nelson clocked her first time of the season of 35:21 for 23rd.
The Varsity Ladies were next. Junior Kyla Meissner took more than a minute off her time from last season’s opener to secure her third straight win on the Jefferson course with a time of 19:38. Sophomore Elaine MacDonald placed 11th with a time of 22:17. Juniors Bella McDaniel (24:16) and Shalyn Sentinella (25:11; two-minute improvement from last year!) finished 21st and 24th. Neither the varsity nor junior varsity girls’ teams tallied team scores as their runners were split between the two races.
The last race of the day was the Men’s Varsity. Senior Gavin Green clocked a time of 18:45, placing 16th. Juniors Dallas Fligge (20:15) and Rylan Hoveland (20:33) finished 27th and 30th, followed close behind by senior Keaton Cavasos (20:38; who took more than 3 ½ minutes off his time from last season!) in 31st. Junior Luke Tullos (20:58) and senior Sam Flesch (23:28) rounded out the team in 35th and 41st. The varsity boys finished fifth overall as a team with 124 points.
Coaches Brooke Dolan (16th year) and Louis Ingalls (3rd year) and their squad look ready for the season. Class B qualifying times have been shortened by 3 minutes from last season, making it the hardest class to advance to the state meet in late October, but these Bulldogs look like they are up to the task. They next compete at Taylor Park in Manhattan on Saturday, September 6th, with the JV race starting at 4:30 and varsity races to follow.
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Image 1 Caption: Junior Kyla Meissner wins the Jefferson Opener for the 3rd season in a row.
MT43 News Sports Reporter
Image 2 Caption: Senior Keaton Cavasos takes more than three minutes off his time from the same race last season.
MT43 News Sports Reporter
Image 3 Caption: The Bulldog Cross Country team starts their season with the Jefferson Opener in Boulder.
MT43 News Sports Reporter
