Whitefish runners try to hang with tough competition at Mountain West Classic

With runners from over 80 schools competing at the Mountain West Classic on Saturday in Missoula, the Whitefish boys and girls cross country teams did their best to compete with top runners in the region.

The Whitefish boys came in 16 overall and third among Montana Class A schools. The Bulldogs finished behind Hamilton and Corvallis in Class A. Whitefish coach Richard Menicke said that the competition from those two schools is tough, but he knows Whitefish can keep up with their pace.

“We were out-competed by Hamilton and Corvallis — who are looking tough a month out from State,” Menicke said. “I still believe we can run with them… closing the (time) gap from our No. 3 to No. 5 athlete remains the challenge.”

Whitefish sophomores had the best times for the Bulldogs again this season — Mason Genovese was the top finisher for Whitefish with a time of 17:20.10 for seventh place in Class A, 54th overall, and Deneb Linton was close behind finishing in 17:33.30. Bulldog senior Jacob Henson was the third fastest coming in 24th in Class A.

“Mason Genovese and Deneb Linton both had very strong races in a tough, tough field,” Menicke said.

He also gave kudos to sophomore Zachary Chiarito who ran well in the junior varsity race, saying he could close in on a varsity position before the state meet.

The girls team had a difficult day, and was challenged by the amount of competitive racers at the Mountain West Classic.

“The girls team had an unlucky and rough day,” Menicke said. “We struggled with the level of competition, which was extremely high, and had a few injuries.”

Menicke expressed that Whitefish senior Paetra Cooke did well to lead the varsity team though. She placed 19th among Class A runners with a time of 22:15.50. Hazel Gawe had the second fastest time of the day for the Lady Bulldogs, running the race in 23:21.90.

In the girls junior varsity race, Menicke congratulated Rachel Wilmot, a freshman running in her first race, for leading Whitefish’s JV team.

Whitefish competes again at the Thompson Falls Invite on Thursday beginning at 2 p.m.

Mountain West Classic

Saturday

BOYS

Team scores — 16. Whitefish 561

Individual scores

1. Mason Genovese 17:20.1

2. Deneb Linton 17:33.3
   
   

3. Jacob Henson 18:17.9
   

4. Barrett Garcia 18:21.6

5. Nate Ingelfinger 18:39.1
   

6. Landon Brown 18:47.3
   

7. Ruedi Steiner 19:11.2

GIRLS

Individual scores

1. Paetra Cooke 22:15.5
   

2. Hazel Gawe 23:21.9

3. Raiya McCutcheon 24:21.4