XC boys 3rd, girls 2nd in Thompson Falls

untry team had another good showing at the Thompson Falls Invitational on Thursday.

Again led by Paetra Cooke, the girls team took second place to a strong C-Falls squad. Cooke finished in eighth place in the girls varsity 5000-meter race with a time of 21:50.44.

Whitefish coach Richard Menicke said another highlight for the girls was sophomore Maggie Pulsifer’s big arrival to varsity. She was the Whitefish girls number two finisher, finishing 19th overall, with a massive personal record of 23:14.83.

“She is just getting her pacing dialed, and she likes to compete and push herself,” Menicke said. “It’s fun to watch.”

On the boys side Jacob Henson continues to lead the pack for the Bulldogs with a fourth place finish overall, running the race in 17:31.49. The boys team finished third overall, just seven points out of first place.

Mason Genovese came back strong in T-Falls as well with a top-10 finish and was the Whitefish boys number two. Menicke also mentioned Landon Brown had a big jump getting a personal record and finishing as the Whitefish boys fifth fastest runner of the day.

The Bulldogs raced their fastest cumulative race of the season on both the boys and girls sides, competing against runners from more than 10 schools.

“Our gap from first finisher to fifth finisher was a season low, good for team scoring, for both boys and girls,” Menicke added.

The Bulldog runners were set to host their home meet at the Whitefish Lake Golf Course on Tuesday, Sept. 29. and then travel to the Polson-Ronan Invitational in Pablo on Saturday.