Bozeman’s Neil Runs Fastest Time on Montana Soil as Flathead Invite Offers Early Preview of State Cross Country Champs
The Bozeman Hawks swept individual, team crowns at first major invitational of the season
By Micah Drew
With Flathead High School hosting the state cross country meet at Rebecca Farm in October, 39 teams from across the state descended on Kalispell on Friday to preview the state course at the Flathead Invitational.
The varsity races saw identical finishes with Bozeman’s boys and girls team notching strong wins.
Senior Nathan Neil won the 5-kilometer (5K) boys race in a time of 14:50.31, the fastest time run on Montana soil by a high school athlete. (Montana switched from a 3-mile cross country distance in 2017, although MHSA and Athetic.net records indicate it may be the fastest time ever run in Montana when converted to a 3-mile time of roughly 14:19, although records are incomplete.)
Neil was runner-up at the state meet last year, helping the Hawks win their 15th state title. His performance in Kalispell, along with Bozeman’s 46-points to win the team title over Great Falls with 63, makes the Hawks a favorite to repeat.
Fittingly, freshman Kylee Neil ran 18:54 to win a close race over Glasgow’s Tanae Baker and defending Class AA state champions Claire Rutherford from Gallatin in third. The Lady Hawks scored 67 points to beat Gallatin (88) and Class AA defending champion Hellgate in third (109).
Among local teams, the Flathead girls had the best finish overall, taking fourth. Led by junior Josie Wilson, seniors Lilli Rumsey Eash and Mikenna Conan both had top-20 finishes with Conan running a personal best time.
Polson freshman Morgan Delaney and Glacier freshman Lauren Bissen finished 12th and 14th, respectively, running just over 20 minutes on the 5K course.
Against just Class A competition, Whitefish senior Maeve Ingelfinger was third overall. The Columbia Falls girls finished second to Corvallis, a team they’ve battled for the state podium the last few years. Sophomore Ashley Andrews was the top finisher for the Wildkats in 24th overall (fourth for Class A).
In the boys varsity race, Flathead transfer Robbie Nuila finished eighth, running 16:20.03 to lead the Braves to a sixth place finish. Nuila, who helped St. Ignatius win the Class B state title last fall, made it clear that moving up two divisions has only increased his competitive drive.
Glacier sophomore Owen Thiel was 26th, while Whitefish senior Mason Genovese and junior Ethan Amick finished 31st and 35th, respectively. The two Bulldogs were the third and fourth Class A runners to cross the line.
The Flathead Invite included junior varsity and freshman races as well. Helena High School won the JV girls race over Hellgate and Glacier, while Sentinel High School beat Helena and Hellgate on the JV boys podium. Helena and Sentinal also won the team titles, respectively, in the freshman races.
Four of the top 20 varsity girls were freshmen, but Hellgate’s Norah Attard won the freshman-only race. Only two freshmen boys finished among the top-50 in the varsity race, while the freshman-only race was won by Sentinel’s Mica Kantor. Kantor spent a portion of his summer as a plaintiff in the youth-led climate change lawsuit against the state, where he testified about the impacts of climate change on his ability to run.
Glacier High School will host another meet at Rebecca Farm on Oct. 11. All classifications will compete at the MHSA state meet at Rebecca Farm on Oct. 21.
Complete results for the Flathead Invite can be viewed here.
