Cross Country teams keep consistent stride to perform at Time Trials
Whitefish cross country continued to make improvements this week at the Cut Bank Time Trials.
The boys team nabbed a second place finish behind Great Falls and the girls came in fourth.
Deneb Linton ran to a third-place finish in the race with a personal best time of 16:46.66. He shaved nearly 40 seconds off his time from last week’s meet in Libby.
“Deneb made a great bid for the leaders and came up short during the last hill,” Whitefish head coach Richard Menicke said. “His best is still ahead after a PR in Cut Bank.”
Menicke says the course was tougher than the Libby meet the previous week and the Bulldogs’ top boys duplicated their performances despite the increased difficulty. Whitefish’s Mason Genovese took seventh with a time of 17:23.13 and senior Jacob Henson was just behind him in eighth.
Menicke said junior Ruedi Steiner ran a good race, shaving 30 seconds off his previous best to run the sixth best time on the day for Whitefish.
“The collective of the entire team continues to make us better — we have at least six boys who are within a minute of our No. 7,” Menicke said. “This is very healthy for our future.”
The girls team continues to grow with more runners being eligible for meets. At the Cut Bank Time Trials, sophomore Morgan Grube ran the best time for Whitefish for the second week in a row; she placed seventh overall with a time of 21:30.96 which was a PR for her as well. Grube has shaved over 2 minutes off her best time from her freshman season.
“Morgan ran well, staying with the top two into the second half of the race,” Menicke recalled. “We need to work on her fitness to challenge at the finish line.”
Fellow sophomore Hazel Gawe is solidly in the Whitefish girls No. 3 spot now according to Menicke. She was the second fastest runner for the Lady Bulldogs in Cut Bank with a lifetime best. A newcomer, Marina Nugent ran a personal best for Whitefish in her second race ever to cross the finish in the middle of the pack.
“I'm in awe of [Nugent’s] tenacity to improve,” Menicke said.
The coach added that a few more girls will be eligible to race this coming week.
The cross country teams next compete in the Flathead Invite at Rebecca Farm on Friday beginning at 1 p.m.
Cut Bank Time Trials
Golf Course, Cut Bank
Friday
Boys Team Scores
- Great Falls 27; 2. Whitefish 48; 3. Bigfork 97; 4. Columbia Falls 114; 5. Browning 140; 6. Charles M Russell(Great Falls) 154; 7. Belt/Centerville 159; 8. Cut Bank 180
Whitefish Individuals
- Deneb Linton 16:46.66
- Mason Genovese 17:23.13
- Jacob Henson 17:24.49
- Nate Ingelfinger 18:04.87
- Barrett Garcia 18:15.20
- Ruedi Steiner 18:45.60
Girls Team Scores
- Charles M Russell(Great Falls) 38; 2. Columbia Falls 48; 3. Great Falls 67; 4. Whitefish 103; 5. Browning 128; 6. Heart Butte 172; 7. Cut Bank 175
Whitefish Individuals
- Morgan Grube 21:30.96
- Hazel Gawe 23:00.29
- Maggie Pulsifer 24:16.54
- Raiya McCutcheon 24:21.51
- Marina Nugent 25:53.33