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Mundel Cruises to Class A Championship

Columbia Falls senior wins state title; Whitefish girls grab second-place trophy

By Dillon Tabish

She kept hearing the footsteps behind her, but Samantha Mundel never looked back.

The senior from Columbia Falls pushed herself into the lead pack and held on to win the Class A state cross country championship in Helena last weekend. A year after placing ninth at state, she crossed the finish line first, 18:19.70.

“I actually pushed myself to where I almost passed out,” she said afterward. “That was my goal for this race.”

Mundel entered the final race with high expectations after winning her second Northwestern A divisional title a week earlier. She jumped out front early on and held off a swarm of runners, including Whitefish’s Sarah Latcham.

As Mundel turned up the pace, Latcham held her positioning and finished in second (18:45.64).

“Last year at state I was 16th and was the first person not to get a medal. It made me really hungry for a medal this year and I came back and I got it,” Latcham said afterward. “I trained incredibly hard this summer. That was the one thing in my mind when I was putting in 12-mile days. I knew what I wanted.”

Latcham’s No. 2 finish fueled Whitefish to second place as a team for the second year in a row. The Lady Bulldogs tallied 94 points. Barrett Gray finished ninth (19:58.16) and Peyton Twete was 18th (20:33.45). Sarah Perez earned 25th (20:45.99) and Annika Gordon was 40th (21:18.55).

Polson’s Ryan Harrop earned seventh (19:53.72).

Corvallis won the team title with 65 points. Hamilton was third with 130 points.

Hamilton placed four runners in the top 15 en route to the Class A boys title.

Jonathan Eastwood won the individual title, 15:22.24.

Whitefish’s Keaton Grove was the top local runner, finishing 26th in 17:05.38.

Class A Boys 
State XC 

Bill Roberts Golf Course, Helena

Boys

Team Results
1, Hamilton, 50; 2, Corvallis, 69; 3, Belgrade, 132; 4, Hardin, 151; 5, Fergus, 171; 6, Laurel, 194; 7, Dawson County, 211; 8, Frenchtown, 234; 9, Beaverhead County, 252; 10, Browning, 269; 11, Whitefish, 278; 12, Havre, 338; 13, Park, 345; 14, Custer County, 366; 15, Billings Central, 424; 16, Butte Central 438; 17, Polson, 456; 18, Columbia Falls, 462; 19, Sidney, 469; 20, Libby, 646

Individual Results – All State
1, Jonathan Eastwood, BEL, 15:22.24; 2. Tyler Morgan, LAU, 15:29.21; 3, Cameron Miekle, HAM, 16:05.82; 4, Ronald Venema, COR, 16:09; 5, Karill Apedaile, HAM, 16:14.59; 6, Kole Tison, HAM, 16:15.39; 7, Kyle McLaughlin, BEL, 16:16.62; 8, Caleb Ware, HAR, 16:17.72; 9, Jalen Two Leginns, HAR, 16:21.59; 10, Austin Stradley, CUST, 16:27.44; 11, Carson Jessop, COR, 16:36.25; 12, Ashton Jones, DAWS, 16:39.00; 13, Josh Jessop, COR, 16:39.05; 14, Sage Schoonen, BEAV, 16:44.92; 15, Tanner Lehr, HAM, 16:45.50

 

Girls

Team Results

1, Corvallis, 65; 2, Whitefish, 94; 3, Hamilton 130, 4, Polson, 149; 5, Hardin, 173; 6, Belgrade, 182; 7, Fergus, 183; 8, Laurel, 208; 9, Columbia Falls, 233; 10, Custer County, 243; 11, Dawson County, 297; 12, Billings Central, 311; 13, Havre, 337; 14, Beaverhead County, 361; 15, Park, 395; 16, Browning, 459; 17, Frenchtown, 508; 18, Libby, 519

Individual Results – All State 
1, Samantha Mundel, CF, 18:19.70; 2, Sarah Latcham, WF, 18:45.64; 3, Amelia Gardner, COR, 18:59.17; 4, Jaycie Schmalz, HAM, 19:38.14; 5, Albany Jessop, COR, 19:40.54; 6, Kaitlyn Poss, FER, 19:50.21; 7, Ryan Harrop, POL, 19:53.72; 8, Lexi Gradwohl, LAU, 19:57.36; 9, Barrett Gray, WF, 19:58.16; 10, Kaitlin Stromberg, HAM, 19:59.74; 11, Mei Li Stevens, HAM, 20:03.43; 12, Emily Regan, CUST, 20:08.40; 13, Rachel David, HAV, 20:14.08; 14, Grace Kurfman, COR, 20:15.47; 15, Lynn Reynoso, COR, 20:20.16;

 

For complete results, visit competitivetiming.com.