Young cross country team preps for season

The Whitefish Cross Country team is coming into a new season with another young, talented squad.

Bulldog head coach Richard Menicke says after just over a week of practices, he’s impressed with the outlook of the team so far.

“The season is going great — we have a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm,” Menicke said.

Last year the boys had a strong regular season, with surprising outstanding results coming from young freshmen runners as well as from the team’s leader Jacob Henson. However the boys finished seventh at state which was not where Menicke believed their result should have been based on talent.

To begin this fall, Henson, who is now a senior, is returning and predicted to be in the top results throughout the season. Also sophomores Deneb Linton and Mason Genovese will return to improve on their freshman year. During the 2020 season Linton and Genovese both outperformed preseason expectations and finished in the top 10 in several meets.

“The boys are a deep team,” Menicke said. “The future is bright for them, I’m super excited to see what their evolution is and if we can reach the potential I see for them which is certainly some kind of trophy at the state meet.”

The girls team touts a young squad as well, however senior Paetra Cooke is certainly a headliner for the team. Cooke led the Lady Dogs all season last year, often finishing in the top 10 at several meets. She recorded a season-best time of 20:37.5 and a 19th-place finish at the state championship meet last October.

Menicke also expects sophomore Morgan Grube and senior Alie Simpson to have strong performances for Whitefish.

“The girls overperformed at state last year and went from fifth in conference to sixth at state,” the coach said. “We have some very talented runners.”

Several runners on both the boys and girls teams are coming off outstanding track seasons from the spring, which Menicke believes is something to build from.

Whitefish will host one race at the Whitefish Lake Golf Course on Sept. 28.

The Bulldogs get the season going at the Libby Invitational on Friday morning.