Cross Country Season Ends at Harlem Invitational, Teams Focus on State

The Cross Country regular season concluded this past Friday with the Harlem Invitational. Harlem, Chinook and Hays/Lodge Pole were all part of a very strong group of runners with teams from Sunburst to Poplar in attendance. The MHSA 60th State Cross Country meet will be in Kalispell, Friday, October 21, 2023 at Rebecca Farms.

For the boys Harlem took the top five spots involving Blaine County runner. Freshman Branlin Foote took second for the Wildcats with a time of 17:15.62. Harlem freshman Isaac Cuts The Rope finished eighth with an effort of 18:02.62. Freshman Greg Gardipee crossed the finish line in 18:48.17 while teammate, sophomore DeLane Lamere finished in 20.07.84. Freshman Lathan Blackwolf completed his race in 21:07.40 for the Wildcats.

Also running for Harlem were seniors Kelbi Bigby and Moses Lawrence, along with freshman Orion Cuts The Rope, Romeo Main and Carter Lawrence. The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had one runner in the field, sophomore Ethan Russell. The 'Beeters top finisher was junior Carson Nissen 21:22,72, senior Corey Bilger was close behind, finishing in 21:58.82. Also running for the 'Beeters were sophomore Ezekiel Sanders, freshman Gus Buck, juniors Kalled Jaha and Dentin DePriest. Freshman Kenneth Gruszie and Evan Hofeldt and junior Lance Pitkanen round out the 'Beeter contingent.

In the girls race it was sophomore Neva Lowe leading the way for the 'Beeters, crossing the finish line in 21:08.03, good for fifth in the race. Sophomore Emma Klingamen completed the course in 24:34.86. Sophomore Kirby Hofeldt completed the race in 26:30.83. Sophomore Bailey Billmayer and junior Ivey Lenz also represented the 'Beeters. The Harlem Wildcats were represented by senior Desiree Smith. The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had two runners in the field, freshman Hadley Not Afraid and freshman Alissa Whitford.

Chinook Head Coach, Kendall Harwood is excited to see his team compete at state, "The team put full effort into the meet in Harlem. It's great to see the kids cutting time at the end of the season. Dentin DePriest cut 50 seconds off to make the state cutoff to claim the alternate spot on the team. It was an awesome effort, watching him work so hard this year and reach that milestone was one of the highlights of the season for me." Harwood added, "Neva Lowe has been focused on her improvement. I would expect an amazing leap in performance in Kalispell. Carson Nissen has taken on lead runner duties and is determined to break 20 minutes. This has been a fun team to coach. I'm excited to see them dig deep and have some gutsy races at state.

Good luck to all our Blaine County runners at the state meet. Starting time for the Class C boys is 11:00 am. The Class C girls will go off at 11:50 am. The Class B boys will take to the course at 1:15 pm, with the Class B girls following at 2:10 pm.