Top-10 finishes for XC

The Bulldogs boys and girls cross-country teams both finished in the top 10 at Rebecca Farms in Kalispell Friday.

The boys ran their fastest team time, a combination of the top five runners for each school, and took 10th overall.

“That’s a really strong indicator of improvement,” head coach Richard Menicke said. “The overall feeling was that the team ran very well. We continued to lower our times, and we’re getting more kids to be eligible so we’re almost at full strength.”

Senior Ethan Potthoff was the highest placing runner for Whitefish, coming in at 37th with a time of 17:40. Behind him, Eric Holdhusen and Bridger Gaertner came in 58th and 59th with times of 18:17 and 18:18.

The girls finished ninth overall. Freshman Jessica Henson finished 20th with a time of 20:34, Josephine Vardell took 34th with a time of 21:16 and Ella Greenberg came in just behind at 37th with a time of 21:29. Menicke said he was also happy with the effort of Jessica McCoy, a senior competing in her first race. McCoy finished 69th with a time of 22:59.

“She’s figuring this out and really looking strong and is going to be a big part of this team’s success,” he said.

The Bulldogs travel to the Ronan Invite Thursday.