The Hamilton boys cross country team took the Class A state championship in the cold and wind in Kalispell at Rebecca Farms. Although the snow hadn’t really started, it was blowing and the temperature was dropping. Hamilton placed three runners in the top 10 to solidify the championship.
Colter Purcell, a junior at Hamilton, won the race with a time of 16:17.52. His teammate and another junior, Colter Kirkland was second with a time of 16:40.26. Tanner Nead, another junior from Hamilton finished fifth with a time of 16:48.01. Rounding out the scoring for Hamilton was Lane Cole in 16:58.37, Harrison Silverio with a time of 17:08.92 in 16th place, and Zachary Kunkel in 22nd place. All are juniors.
Corvallis finished in fourth place behind Hardin and Columbia Falls. Brinson Wyche of Corvallis was 6th with a time of 16:49.97. Yannis Jessop was 24th.
Hamilton’s Brynnli Poulson won her second state championship title with a time of 19:02.30, 50 seconds faster than second place. She broke out in front at the start and led throughout the race. Hamilton finished in eighth place.
Corvallis finished in fourth place behind Laurel, Columbia Falls and Hardin. Olivia Buoy finished in fifth place with a time of 20:01.94. Katie Gleason was eighth with a time of 20:16.08. Laurie Davidson was 16th with 20:33.43, and Anna Jessop was 23rd with a time of 21:00.49.
In Class C, the Darby boys finished in sixth lace behind Manhattan Christian, Richey-Lambert, Belt/Centerville, Drummond, and Scobey. William Martin finished 20th and Cullen Duggan was 23rd.