Harriers off to a solid start

The Columbia Falls cross country teams started out the season on a strong note, with the boys taking second and the girls fourth at the Libby Invitational last week.

The Cats had four runners break 17 minutes. Shawn Whitman and Patric Jessat each ran 16:36 for fourth and fifth and Justin Whitman and Derrick Williams both had times of 16:42, good for ninth and 10th. Rounding out the scoring for the boys (place, time) were 22. Pascal Jessat, 18:02; 23. Joe Gross, 18:05.

"I'm definitely pleased," said first-year head coach Richard Menicke. He said he knew they were fit, but he didn't expect them to come out of the gate with sub-17 times, especially sophomore Williams. It was Williams' first cross country race, though he did well in track last year.

The team has also added runners since the season started. Seniors Tim Spencer and Michael Williams have joined the team, as have Zack Sargent and Travis Province.

Sandpoint, Idaho won the meet because their sixth runner finished higher — 17th — than Pascal Jessat, who took 22nd.

On the girls side, Leesa Benner was the top runner for the Kats, taking 13th in 21:16. Rounding out the scoring for the girls was (place, time) 14. Nikki Moser, 21:18; 19. Jinise Osborne, 21:48; 22. Tessa Cowan, 22:25; 24. Cami Casazza, 22:36; 25. Alexas Young, 22:36; 26. Madison Stolte, 22:38.

"The girls have a lot of depth. If they can get a little faster over the course of the season, good things can happen," Menicke said.

He was pleased with the times for a first meet.

This week the teams travel to Eureka Friday and then have their only "home" appearance at the Flathead Invitational, at the Kidsport Complex in Kalispell Saturday.

Eureka will be a JV race for Columbia Falls and varsity runners will compete at Flathead, Menicke said.