Girls capture XC divisional title

The Whitefish girls cross-country team claimed the Northwest A divisional title on Saturday with a strong team performance at West Glacier.

Senior Sarah Latcham, 19:39.6, placed second overall and Barrett Gray, 20:22.4, placed third to pace the team scoring.

The Lady Bulldogs, with 31 points, finished nine points ahead of second-place Polson.

Whitefish had four runners in the top 10.

“It was a little closer than I had hoped,” Whitefish coach Sarah Brist said of the team race.

“The girls ran a great race. They are where we wanted them to be at this time. Winning conference was one of the goals.”

Whitefish’s Peyton Twete was fifth at 20:38.0, and Sarah Perez crossed the finish line in ninth place at 21:17.2.

Led by divisional champion Keaton Grove, the Whitefish boys team finished second with 37 points.

Grove flirted with the 16-minute mark, posting a time of 17:04.0. His margin of victory was almost five seconds.

“It was the first race he won all season,” Brist said.

“He broke away from them (Frenchtown runners) about 400 meters out. He came sprinting down the finish.”

Whitefish had three in the top five. Ethan Lannaghan had the fourth-best time, 17:28.4, and Ethan Potthoff was fifth, 17:33.4.

Sage Cornelius, 18:19.3, Che Roussel, 18:24.9, Christian Newby, 18:25.8, and Gauge Anderson, 18:38.3, placed 13th through 16th, respectively.

The State A meet is in Helena this weekend.