In cross country, progress each week

Get a little better every week.

That's the mantra of the Columbia Falls cross country team as they near the end of the regular season.

Last week Derrick Williams and Justin Whitman set the pace for the rest of the team, taking seventh and eighth respectively at the Ronan Invitational Saturday.

Williams clocked a 16:34 while Whitman ran a 16:37.

"Both boys and girls teams had season's bests," coach Richard Menicke said. "Give a lot of credit to Whitman. He really pushed Derrick the last mile."

The boys took third as a team behind Missoula Hellgate and Flathead.

Rounding out the scoring was James Ratzlaff, 23rd, 17:43; Austin Dumay, 26th, 17:53; Zayne Brunz, 28th, 18:01; and Kohl Thompson, 38th, 18:31. Junior varsity runner Kyle Hudson also had a nice outing, taking 16th with a time of 18:47.

On the girls' side, Jinise Osborne once again led the way, with a time of 20:02 and a seventh-place finish.

"She did a great job," Menicke said. Osborne was followed by Nicki Moser, 19th, 21:16; Tori Price, 24th, 21:49; Madison Stolte, 26th, 22:12; Cami Casazza 29th, 22:31; and Caroline Hansford, 30th, 22:35. LaKayla Benner had a solid JV race, taking ninth with a 23:20.

The team travels to Thompson Falls today (Thursday) and then is at Whitefish Saturday Oct. 9. The Whitefish meet, which starts at 11 a.m. at the Whitefish Golf course, is the closest the Cats come to competing at home.

This year, the divisional meet is in Libby and the state meet is in Helena.