Carlson repeats; takes first at divisonals

By JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

Kayla Carlson finished the Northwestern A divisional race at Whitefish Lake Golf Club in 18:39, a half of a minute faster than her winning time last year, and more importantly three seconds faster than her closest competition, and earned herself defending champion bragging rights.

"She ran a very smart race neck and neck until the last 300 yards," said Bigfork head cross country coach Sue Loeffler.

Carlson, who is always modest about her athletic achievements, said that it was exciting to win for the second year in a row, and that Whitefish did a great job with setting up the course.

Going into the race she said she was "just planning on running to win and hoped that would work fine."

Luckily Carlson was able to keep a pack of Whitefish girls at bay and clinch the title for the second straight year.

"I just didn't want anyone to pass me and I hoped that if I kept that pace up no one would," Carlson said.

She is expected to be one of the top finishers at the state meet next Saturday in Missoula.

"I'm nervous," Carlson said. "I'm hoping to get in the top five. It's anyone's race any given day."

Bridger Mahlum had a high showing for Bigfork in Saturday's meet as well. He finished eighth in 16:59, which is his first finish under 17:00.

"I wasn't expecting top 10 and I wasn't expecting under 17:00, so coming across the line and seeing that was a nice surprise," Mahlum said.

Though Mahlum had his best race ever this week, he is still a little unsure about how he will do at state.

"There are some really fast runners in other conferences, so I'm just hoping to finish in the top 20," Mahlum said. "That would be awesome, but that's setting the bar pretty high for this race."

Evan Jordt finished 24th in 18:50 despite being ill all week. Spencer Jenko was 39th in 19:49. Chris Driver had is fastest time ever in competition, finishing the course in 21:40.

"Our message all year has been, "Bigfork cross country has quality not quantity," Loeffler said. "They again showed this by their outstanding performances."

BHS doesn't have enough runners on either of its teams to compete as a team, but the low numbers do allow Loeffler to take all of her runners to state since each school is allotted seven girls and seven boys.

"Everyone ran really strong at divisionals," Carlson said. "We are looking really good for state."

Mahlum also said that the team has improved greatly as a result of a lot of hard work this season.

"The team raced their hearts out at divisonals," Mahlum said. "We're all really looking forward to state."

The Bigfork Middle School cross country runners had their divisional meet on Saturday in Kalispell. Makenna Morley finished second, Chelsey Olson was 10th and Melle Hubbard was 12th.