Flathead Valley Cross Country Preview 2024
Many of the state’s top returning runners hail from local schools, all with eyes on leading their teams to the podium
By Micah Drew
The MHSA State Cross Country Championships are back in Missoula at the end of October, after the Flathead hosted in 2023. Despite not having hosting duties this year, the Flathead Invitational on Sept. 6 will showcase many of the state’s top teams at the classic Rebecca Farms course in Kalispell. It’ll be a good time to see the valley’s top runners as they start to hit their stride for the season.
Only one of the valley’s 10 cross country teams earned a podium berth at the state championships last fall, a showing that belies the caliber of local runners.
Starting in Kalispell where the individual talent often outshines team depth, both Flathead and Glacier are ready to flip that script.
Glacier brings back almost all scoring runners from last fall, including the No. 2 returning for both the boys’ and girls’ sides. As a freshman, Lauren Bissen cross the finish line just seconds behind Gallatin’s defending champion Claire Rutherford — and just a tenth of a second behind freshman Kylee Neil of Bozeman. With all three runners back, the individual podium will be hypercompetitive once again.
Bissen is leading a Wolfpack team that finished fifth last year with only one graduation from the top five. Seniors Anna Tretter and Alyssa Vollertsen along with junior Dacia Benkleman will make up a strong varsity team that just needs one more reliable racer to become a podium contender.
For the boys, junior Owen Thiel is looking to improve on his ninth place finish from cross country. A pair of fifth-place showings during state track in the distance events shows Thiel to be a fast-finishing threat this fall. Behind him, sophomore Gabe Ackerly is one of the top cross country runners in his class and new transfer Jude Sparkman will help the Wolfpack make competitive moves.
The top returning Class AA runner from last fall is also a Kalispell athlete. Flathead’s Robbie Nuila was seventh in cross country before an injury held up his track season. However, Nuila is known for being ready to compete at the right time — as a sophomore his second place finish in the Class B state meet helped St. Ignatius secure the program’s first team title. Helping Nuila will be senior Kasin Kastner, whose strong track season indicates the potential for an all-state finish in cross country, and a trio of talented sophomores.
The Bravettes have finished one place off the podium in three of the last four years, and are looking at a bit of a rebuilding year after the graduation of four varsity runners, including perennial top placing Lily Rumsey Eash. Senior Josie Wilson should be a top-10 finisher this year and several underclassmen are sure to rise to fill the ranks.
In Class A, the teams to watch are the always competitive Columbia Falls squads. Year in and year out, Coach Jim Peacock has a knack for training his athletes to peak at the state meet and rarely comes home empty handed. Last fall the boys team finished third, just four points from second, while the girls squad missed the podium by just three points.
Junior River Blazejewski returns as the Wildcats top runner and will be backed up by seniors Oliver Kress and Lucas Peterson. On the girls side, sophomore phenom Cora Hannan is back to lead a squad that only lost one senior runner. Behind defending champions Hardin, the Class A girls podium looks to be one of the most competitive in the state.
Whitefish is fielding a young girls team — three of the Bulldogs’ scoring runners last fall were freshmen, and will be a competitive trio as they move up in the state ranks. On the boys side, the team lost two seniors from last year’s squad but brings back seniors Ethan Amick and Simon Douglas, with Douglas coming off a strong track season with a pair of top-10 finishes at the state meet.
Last, but never least, Bigfork is now settled in to the Class A ranks after bumping up classifications last year. The Vikings will have senior Sean Cotman and juniors Noah Hamilton-Dixon and Nic Gustavson back with state meet experience. The Valkyries will need to recruit some runners to field a scoring team, but bring back four runners from last year’s state meet, including sophomore Hadley Nollan who finished 71st.