MONTANA STATE MEET

Missoula Hellgate Edges Sentinel For AA Boys Title

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

It was a season long effort, but the Hellgate High boys of Missoula wrestled the Montana state AA cross country crown away from cross-town rival Sentinel on Saturday at the University of Montana golf course. 

Hellgate and last year's champion, Sentinel, are separated by 1.6 miles and the golf course is within walking distance of both campuses. 

This fall, Hellgate and Sentinel were in six meets together and the balance of power seemed to tip near the mid-point of the season. Sentinel had the advantage at the Mountain West Classic and the Butte Invitational, but the Capital 7 on 7 was a tie and Hellgate won the Runner's Edge Missoula City meet 27-29. 

On Saturday, Hellgate pulled out a 62-66 victory that brought the Knights their first state title since 2007. They had lost the 2019 title to Bozeman on a sixth-runner tiebreaker.

Sentinel senior Tanner Klumph improved from second at state in 2020 to first, with a time of 15:56.3. 

Junior Finneas Colescott was second for Hellgate, but it was the advantage at No. 5 that pulled it out. Hellgate's Daniel Wiltse was 21st and Sentinel's fifth, Callum Coots, was 31st. 

Great Falls (91) and Bozeman (96) finished third and fourth. 

The Bozeman girls have managed to overcome the opening of Gallatin High and the loss of part of its population, winning the state cross country title for the 14th time in 15 years. 

For the second year in a row, Hellgate's Kensey May beat Helena's Kylie Hartnett for the individual title. May ran 18:16.2 and Hartnett, the 2019 champion, was timed in 18:25.7. 

Bozeman's Hayley Burns (18:30.6) and Flathead's Lilli Rumsey Eash, the first non-senior, was fourth (18:31.7).  

Hamilton's boys team repeated in the Class A race, with seniors Colter Purcell, Lane Cole and Colter Kirkland went 2-4-5 and the team scored 38 points to win easily. Hamilton was a preseason Northwest top-five pick but wasn't able to develop the depth necessary to earn acclaim as the best team in Montana. Last year, Purcell and Kirkland went 1-2. 

Senior Brinson Wyche from Corvallis won the Class A race in 16:26.0. Hardin (83) and Corvallis (87) were the next two teams after Hamilton. 

Hannah Sempf led Columbia Falls to a victory in a close battle with Corvallis for the girls team title, 92 to 99. Sempf ran 20:03.4 to win a tight race with Browning's Kiara Iron Heart. 

New champions were crowned at the Class B level, where the Big Fork boys and Red Lodge girls prevailed. 

Senior Emma Stolte from Broadwater ran 19:19.0 to win the girls race. Another senior, Brandon Emineth from Red Lodge, won the the boys race in 16:54.1. 

Manhattan Christian once again dominated the Class C races on Saturday. The boys went 1-3-4-9-10-11 without any seniors and three freshmen. Sophomore Owen Arthun led the charge as the team scored 8 points (scoring just three). Arthun's winining time was 16:52.6.

The Manhattan Christian girls had a tougher time, but prevailed over Culbertson 47-69. Senior Lindsey Paulson of Belt/Centerville repeated as the girls Class C champion, running 19:00.9.

Team Champions

Class AA - Hellgate boys 62 points, Bozeman girls 53 points - RESULTS

Class A - Hamilton boys 38 points, Columbia Falls girls 92 points - RESULTS

Class B - Bigfork boys 100 points, Red Lodge girls 87 points - RESULTS

Class C - Manhattan Christian boys 8 points, Manhattan Christian girls 47 points (scoring three) - RESULTS