Eaton leads Whitefish girls at divisionals

The Whitefish cross-country teams had a very successful competition this past weekend at the Northwestern A Championship meet held at the Silver Fox Country Club in Pablo.

The Lady Bulldogs won the conference championship for the fourth straight season, while the boys finished in second place, up from fourth a year ago.

Individually, the ladies were led by individual champion Bailey Eaton. Her time of 19:12 for the 3-mile course was 14 seconds ahead of Polson's Mesa Starkey.

Loni Hanson, 3rd, Jessica Sagen, 4th, Carly Schwickert, 5th, and Hannah Weaver, 7th, each earned All Conference honors with their top-10 finishes.

"Bailey had a really nice run today," coach Bill Brist said. "She had a plan and went out and took care of business. I was happy to see her have such a nice race."

Eaton is the first Whitefish girl to win the individual conference championship title since Claire Anderson won the race in 1998, Brist noted.

"Putting five runners in the top-seven shows that we're ready to go for state," he said. "I believe our conference is one of the toughest in the state, so if we can run well against these runners, we can run well at state."

Jackie Cassidy, Nicole Birk and Anne Miller all finished in the top-20, Brist said, estblishing a great back-up cast for the Lady Bulldogs' top five.

"If we can shake some of the sickness that has been going around, I think that we could do quite well this weekend," he said.

The Whitefish boys also had a great meet. Junior Nathan Knox led the Bulldogs with his fifth-place finish. Jace Kalbfleisch also earned All Conference honors with his ninth-place finish.

Baxter Graham, 14th, Chris Reyna, 15th, and Fischer Gangemi, 18th, rounded out the boys team scoring with their top-20 finishes.

"Last year, we placed fourth, and we graduated four from that team," Brist said. "It's amazing that with all of these young and developing runners, we were able to finish in second place. My goal for the team would have been to place in the top three, so obviously I'm thrilled that they were able to place second."

Brist noted that the boys team is learning fast.

"This season has given them a great opportunity to step up and compete in all of the races that they've entered," he said. "The fact that this is such a young team, with everyone able to return next year, shows that they're going to really make some noise next year. We still have one last goal to reach this season with this group. A top-eight placing at State would put them into a great position to springboard into a even greater season next year."

Northwestern A Conference Championships

Silver Fox Course, Pablo Oct. 17, 2009

Girls team results:

1. Whitefish 20

2. Columbia Falls 57

3. Polson 76

4. Ronan 93

5. Libby no score

Girls individual results

1. Bailey Eaton, 19:12 (All Conference)

3. Loni Hanson, 19:55 (All Conference)

4. Jessica Sagen, 20:17 (All Conference)

5. Carly Schwickert, 20:28 (All Conference)

7. Hannah Weaver, 20:36 (All Conference)

11. Jackie Cassidy, 21:24

19. Nicole Birk, 22:25

20. Anne Miller, 22:26

33. Emma Marchetti, 23:51

48. Justine Dugdale, 29:35

Boys team results

1. Columbia Falls 18

2. Whitefish 61

3. Ronan 79

4. Libby 101

5. Polson 104

Boys individual results

5. Nathan Knox, (All Conference)

9. Jace Kalbfleisch, (All Conference)

14. Baxter Graham, 18:10

15. Chris Reyna, 18:14

18. Fischer Gangemi, 18:27

24. Will Holdhusen, 18:55

33. Peter Seymour, 19:56

34. Spencer Hale, 20:05

36. Mat Guitterez, 20:12

50. Zach Blumhardt, 22:51

51. Jon Jacobs, 23:08