XC boys secure second at Fall Classic, state up next

On a bitter cold fall morning, Whitefish junior Jacob Henson beat his personal best time for the second week in a row as he led the Bulldogs boys to a second place team finish at the Western A Fall Classic Saturday at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.

Henson ran the varsity race in 17:15.9 to come in seventh place in the boys individual results. Ahead of him was Ronan senior Brant Heiner who took first, a pack of Hamilton runners and a junior from Corvallis.

Whitefish’s next fastest boys of the day were freshmen Deneb Linton, clocking a time of 17:29 for 10th place, and Mason Genovese who was only five seconds off Linton’s time for 11th place.

“Second place behind a dominant Hamilton, a great team result with our front three mixing it up with the best in the west,” Whitefish head coach Richard Menicke commented.

All three of Whitefish top boy runners, Henson, Linton and Genovese earned all-conference honors with their performance. The boys are heading into the State Championship meet this weekend in top form as they continue to shave seconds off their best times.

“Jacob did a nice job pulling his teammates; his effort was his fastest ever,” Menicke said. “We are making steady improvement, closing the gap between the top three and the next two guys, hoping for our best pack running of the season at state.”

Menicke also mentioned that freshman Zach Chiarito ran well in the junior varsity race and because of that finish he earned his spot on the team Whitefish will take to state this weekend.

“It’s amazing to reflect — of the seven varsity athletes running at state on Friday, four are freshmen, two sophomores and one junior. These guys are just having fun and being boys, so anything can happen,” Menicke added.

For the girls, Whitefish placed sixth out of seven teams. Whitefish’s junior standout Paetra Cooke continued to lead the girls team and ran her best time of 20:55 while finishing sixth in the individual times. Coming in 25th was Whitefish’s next fastest girl of the day, Raiya McCutcheon who ran the varsity race in 22:34.76.

“Four out of seven varsity athletes ran a season best time,” Menicke said. “The girls are starting to peak, and we hope to carry one more season’s best time effort into state.”

“Paetra Cooke ran with great confidence and fitness to an All Conference result in sixth place and Raiya McCutcheon put together her best race yet as our number two in 25th place,” he added.

This race was also the second meet Whitefish cross country hosted this season at the golf course and Menicke was delighted to have run another successful event there.

“I would like to thank the Whitefish Lake Golf Course for their incredible generosity and support in making the south course available for us to host two meets this season; it is amazing and we are grateful,” he said.

Whitefish has one last race of the season to give it their all and leave nothing left in the tank at the Montana State Cross Country Championships Friday at Rebecca Farm. The Class A girls race begins at 10:30 a.m. with the Class A boys start time at 11:30 a.m. Each athlete will be allowed two spectators only, the general public is not allowed to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Western A Fall Classic

Saturday, WLGC

GIRLS

Team scores – Columbia Falls 38, Corvallis 49, Polson 82, Hamilton 104, Whitefish 109, Frenchtown 134, Libby 203.

Top Individuals

1. Paetra Cooke, Whitefish, 20:54.95; 25. Raiya McCutcheon 22:34.76 Whitefish; 27. Alie Simpson 22:42.53 Whitefish; 30. Maggie Pulsifer 23:12.72 Whitefish; 33. Hazel Gawe 23:19.42 Whitefish; 35. Maylani Horton 23:34.12 Whitefish

BOYS

Team scores – Hamilton 26, Whitefish 60, Ronan 81, Corvallis 85, Polson 122, Libby 172, Stevensville 208.

Top Individuals

1. Jacob Henson, Whitefish, 17:15.82; 10. Deneb Linton, Whitefish 17:28.91; 11. Mason Genovese, Whitefish, 17:34.48; 17. Ruedi Steiner 18:20.92 Whitefish; 23. Landon Brown 18:45.93 Whitefish; 24. Nate Inglefinger 18:52.72 Whitefish