by Scott Sacry
The Bitterroot Valley cross country teams of Corvallis, Darby, Florence, Hamilton, and Stevensville were in Missoula at the University Golf Course on Saturday, September 28 for the Mountain West Classic. For those unfamiliar, all the cross country races in Montana are five kilometers long.
The Mountain West Classic is a massive annual event. In the boys varsity race there were 66 teams and 492 runners. In the girls varsity race there were 52 teams and 399 runners. A top finish in this race is impressive.
Individually for the boys, Florence’s Kyler Harris took 21st (16:18.85), Corvallis’ Jack Davidson took 24th (16:21.96), Corvallis’ Carter Koerner took 59th (17:01.37), Florence’s CJ Pijanowski took 64th (17:04.49), Darby’s Ben Martin took 96th (17:30.44), Stevensville highest finisher was Benjamin White in 231st (18:44.30).
The overall boys winner was Owen Thiel of Glacier with a time of 15:41.06.
Individually for the girls, Hamilton’s Aleigha Child placed 14th (19:17.31), Corvallis’ Violet Jessop placed 20th (19:42.06), Hamilton’s Claire Seifert took 59th (20:39.11), Corvallis’ Autumn Benson took 90th, Darby’s Lily Adair took 122nd (21:33.07), and Stevensville’s highest finisher was Bryton Brewer at 222nd (23:22.21).
The overall girls winner was Lauren Bissen of Glacier with a time of 18:22.69.
In the girls teams standings, Hamilton took 16th and Corvallis took 19th.
In the boys team standings, Corvallis finished 12th, Florence was 23rd, Hamilton was 24th, and Stevensville was 56th.