State cross country Saturday in Kalispell

The season will come to an end this Saturday for the Whitehall High School Cross Country team.

After two months of hard work, the season will conclude at the state meet that will take place at the Rebecca Farm in Kalispell.

After finishing 11th as a freshman and sophomore and fifth as a junior, senior Hunter Flynn will be looking to end his career with a state title. In his last regular season meet last Saturday in Townsend, Flynn finished second with a time of 16:41.57. Bryant Edgerton of Townsend won the race with a time of 16:20.49.

Flynn said he has been looking forward to the upcoming race since he was a freshman.

“And after a great race on Saturday in Townsend, I feel I’m ready to give Bryant(Edgerton) a run for his money. I am very excited for what’s going to be an emotional and memorable weekend,” Flynn said.

Looking back on his senior campaign, Flynn said it has been an interesting one, and seemed like it was Bryant versus everyone in class B.

“It’s been a battle of who can be the closest at the end of the race, and in Townsend I was closer to him than I had been all season. During every practice I picture him out in front of me and I have to go catch him. It’s made me a better runner because I’ve had him as someone to chase, a goal to shoot for everyday,” Flynn said. “After four years of figuring out what works and what doesn’t work, I feel very prepared for anything that could be thrown at me on Saturday. I have three state cross country meets under my belt and it will definitely help me. I’ve been working harder than ever this year and also am more motivated. I’ve had a great season so far and looking to cap it off with a great finish this weekend.”

In other Townsend results, junior Justin Gipson was the next Trojan to finish. He placed 24th with a time of 18:54.37. Ryan Murphy ended the race in 38th place with a time of 20:38.00. Cade Briggs was 47th, finishing at 22:25.12. Adrian Bright came in 52nd with a time of 25:02.42. As a team, Whitehall was fifth out of seven teams.

Senior Ann Russell was also strong in her last regular season meet. She finished ninth out of 42 runners with a time of 20:59.09. Freshmen Madison Loomis was 13th with a finish of 21:43.94.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

The Whitehall Middle School team also had some solid finishes in Townsend.

Adam Williams led the way with a 19th place finish and a time of 11:24.55. Dan Hoover was 38th with a time of 13:04.55. Gavin Watson finished in 50th with a time of 13:54.28. Kenzie Hugulet finished in 62nd with a time of 17:08.02.

In the girl’s race, Chloe Brown finished 50th with a time of 18:36.03.