State cross-country meet coming up in Missoula this weekend

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish girls, led by sophomore sensation Jackie Cassidy, cleaned up at the Northwestern A divisional cross-country championships at the Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Saturday.

The Lady Bulldogs cruised to an overall team title with 24 points, with Columbia Falls coming in second with 64 and Polson finishing third with 68.

Cassidy came in second overall with a new Whitefish High School record time of 18:42 on the three-mile course. Bigfork's Kayla Carlson was only three seconds ahead of Cassidy to take first place.

"Jackie Cassidy had that breakthrough that has looked so evident since the beginning of the season," head coach Bill Brist said. "I've been noticing that Jackie seemed ready to break one out the last three or four weeks. To do it at a championship meet is especially nice. I'm sure glad she decided to be part of our team this year. She brings a lot to our team, as her time indicates."

Coming in behind Cassidy in fourth place was Jessica Sagen, followed by Bailey Eaton in sixth, Stella Holt in seventh, and Natalie Kearns in 10th. Nine Lady Bulldogs finished in the top 20.

"The girls came in as two-time defending conference champions and set a goal to win the team title for a third time in front of their home crowd," Brist said. "They didn't disappoint, as they dominated the team standings with a resounding team victory. I was happy with the performance of the girls team. We had some huge performances today. Those performances were especially important as we had several runners (Loni Hanson and Stella Holt) sick in the past few days. That's why cross country is a team sport, as well as an individual one. When one runner struggles, it's up to the others to pick it up. That's what happened today."

The Lady Bulldogs finished the meet with five All Conference Performers (top-10 finishers) for the third straight season.

On the boys side, Drew Coco ran a blistering 15:09 on his way to claiming the individual conference title.

"It was Drew who gave us an indication that the course layout was, indeed, a fast one," Brist said. "Until he came hauling down the finish stretch, it was in doubt how the hilly terrain would treat the runners in regard to race times. As he finished and the time on the race clock showed 15:09, all in attendance knew that times on the course would be reasonably fast."

Drew's time was only six seconds off the state record, which was set two years ago in Helena by current University of Montana runner Lynn Reynolds. He said he is trying not to worry about breaking the record.

"I'm trying not to stress about it," Coco said after classes on Monday. "I'm trying not to think about how I know this is the last chance I'm ever going to get. I just want to get there as calm as I can and leave it all out there."

Coco said his only remaining desire is to break the 15-minute barrier this year.

"Drew looked good," Brist said. "It was his first time on the course, and like everyone else, I think he may have been a little unsure as to where to start his kick. I'm certain that if he was a bit more familiar with the course, he would have easily gone under 15 minutes. His victory, by over a minute, was certainly good enough to showcase his ability."

Nathan Knox had a great day as well with his 14th place finish in 17:33.

"Just like last week, Nathan continues to show that he's able to accomplish great things with his running," Brist said. "One must remember that just a couple of weeks ago, Nathan was running three miles in 19 minutes. For him to cut so much time and reach a level where he is competing with some of the best runners in the conference is nothing short of amazing."

The state cross-country meet will be held in Missoula this Saturday at the University of Montana golf course.

Girls individual results:

2. Jackie Cassidy, 10 - 18:42 (All Conference and new school record)

4. Jessica Sagen, 10 - 19:13 (All Conference)

6. Bailey Eaton, 10 - 19:23 (All Conference)

7. Stella Holt, 10 - 19:46 (All Conference)

10. Natalie Kearns, 12 - 20:14 (All Conference)

11. Kelly Beiser, 12 - 20:24

12. Hannah Weaver, 11 - 20:36

13. Breanna Leggitt, 9 - 20:48

19. Loni Hanson, 11 - 21:18

24. Liz Stevenson, 11 - 21:35

26. Megan Shaver, 12 - 21:38

29. Beth Donovan, 12 - 21:56

34. Anne Miller, 11 - 22:17

35. Carly Schwickert, 10 - 22:21

38. Nicole Birk, 9 - 23:23

48. Katrina Brown, 10 - 26:50

Boys individual results:

1. Drew Coco, 12 - 15:09 (All Conference)

14. Nathan Knox, 10 - 17:33

21. Patrick McGunagle, 12 - 18:18

30. Kaleb Prestegaard, 12 - 19:38

32. Will Holdhusen, 9 - 19:41

40. Daniel Riveria, 9 - 20:22

41. Dietrich Perchy, 10 - 20:30

46. Tucker Chambers, 10 - 21:37

47. Chris Reyna, 10 - 21:37

52. Matt Kennedy, 10 - 23:43

53. Ryan Rice, 12 - 25:36