The Butte High and Butte Central Cross Country teams ran at the prestigious Mountain West cross country meet in Missoula.  It is the largest race in Montana and the northwest.

The field was extremely fast and this pulled the bulldogs to fast times.  Everyone on the team ran seasonal bests or personal bests.

The boys were led by Ladd Hutchinson 17:49.17,  Ryan Tomich 18:33.45 Camden Houchin 18:45.24, Kaden Hennessey 19:29.73, Cohen Grunhuvd 19:37.94.  Making their debut as members of the varsity squad 1were freshmen Levi Wiltsie 20:09.16 and Lincoln Zell 21:02.63 they did not disappoint as they followed up their great performances from last week.  JJ Hadley also had a big race finishing in 19:54.80.  He made huge improvements this week in only his second race ever as he is playing on the varsity soccer team as well. Ryan Hanson, a freshman, knocked off nearly 7 minutes from his previous race

On the girls’ side,  Butte High was led by Lexa Thompson 23:47.59 and Alex Kovnesky  23:48.08.  The freshman-senior tandem ran within a second of each other.

Other notable races included Olivia Thurmond 24:57.35, Kayleen Noctor 27:20.48.  and Arika Dolence who ran as our only JV entry to a fantastic improvement in her time of nearly 4 minutes.

“As a whole, the bulldogs displayed more toughness this week in training and in racing.  It was awesome to watch!  I am excited about the development of the freshmen on the team who are contributing to our team and being successful.” Coach Wadas commented, “I am really impressed with our senior guys and girls who are leading by example and making big gains too.  Overall, it was a fantastic day.  If we continue to train hard with a purpose, and remain focused, we can continue to move closer to the front by state meet time.”

Butte Central boys were led by Jim Bradshaw crossing the line at 20:07.63, James Holmes 21:57.08, Patrick Stimatz 24:13.80 and William McAnulty 25:08.16.

Butte Centrals lone runner in the girls race Hallie Kellicut ran in the 5K in 33:45.44.

Reults can be found here: ​​Mountain West Classic – Results – Cross Country Meet (athletic.net)