MISSOULA – Glacier’s Owen Thiel and Lauren Bissen ran the time to win individual titles in the AA division of the state cross country championships on Saturday.
On a sunny afternoon at the University of Montana golf course, a pair of runners went faster.
Gallatin’s Claire Rutherford ran the 5,000 meters in 18 minutes, 16.2 seconds to win her third straight title. Rutherford went 1-2 with Isabelle Ross, giving the Raptors the girls team title; Bissen was third in 18:34.9.
On the boys’ side, Wilson Schmidt from Belgrade won with the seventh best result. Next up was a tag team champion Bozeman kid with the last name Neil (Taylor), so no surprise there. But who is this guy Schmidt?
“He’s an All-American, a 1-minute, 50-second 800 runner,” explained Thiel, who, like Bissen, finished third. “With a totally nasty kick.”
Thiel finished in 15:45.5, part of the top four: Schmidt’s time of 15:38.4; Neal of Bozeman was second in 15:42.5; and Helena Milo Kauffman was fourth in 15:49.9. Schmidt and Thiel are teenagers; the other two guys are sophomores.
“Next year it’s going to be fast,” Thiel said.
It was on this track that Glacier stood out, winning the Town West Invitational in what you described as “a very fast or medium cross country race.”
“But today was very tactical,” Thiel added. “It came out very slowly. The first couple of miles were slow and I think that played into Wilson’s hands, a very fast approach. Being ahead by two miles, he was able to close faster than all of us.”
Schmidt, Neal and Thiel were all within 1.1 seconds of each other at that mark.
“I was going to hit it a little bit, but everybody had that speed,” Thiel said. “Everybody felt good.”
It wasn’t a fast track, however, and Schmidt nearly broke his PR by eight seconds. Thiel noted that he was four seconds off of Saturday’s 15:41.1, which he didn’t really cut in the Sept. 28 race.
“This race seems like nobody’s business,” Thiel said. “He didn’t happen today.”
And Bissen led Rutherford to the two-mile mark, which would come shortly after the runners climbed Heartbeat Hill. The sophomore didn’t fade; his splits were 5:55, 6:00 and 6:01. Rutherford and Ross were slightly faster.
“I wanted to go over the hill and see how long I could hang on,” Bissen said. “And (Rutherford) is right to pass me. I was proud of my efforts.”
Anna Tretter, Dasia Benkleman, Alyssa Wollertsen and Hailey Fiala finished 24-28-41-57 (Miel Newton was 58th) as Glacier finished fourth in the girls team event with 153 points. Gallatin (52), Bozeman (68) and defending champion Missoula Hellgate (129) rounded out the top three.
Thiel’s time on Saturday was also outside the Town West mark with 18:22.7.
“That’s good,” he said. “I was proud of myself and proud of my team here today.”
Flathead was sixth in the team event with 166 points (Helena had 154) and had two all-state runners in senior Josie Wilson and freshman Everett Holland. They were sixth and ninth.
“I was hoping for a little higher place, a little better time,” said Wilson, who ran 19:06.1. “But I’ve never gotten all-state, so I’m as happy as can be.”
The Dutch time was 19:12.3.
“Everett has been a great addition to our team,” said Wilson, the sports team’s black eye. “At first we didn’t know what he was capable of, but it happened later. I am very happy for him.”
Bozeman won the boys team title with 56 points, and Helen was next with 71 points, with Hellgate third with 115 points. Glacier and Flathead finished fifth and sixth.
Flathead’s Robbie Nuila finished 15th, earning the final boys all-state spot.
Complete results can be found at mhsa.org.