Annie Hill's star shines bright in Montana

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

RESULTS

The state championships venues switched to Great Falls (AA/B) and Missoula (A/C) this year but there were a lot of familiar faces running up front in Montana.

Sophomore Annie Hill (U#12) covered three miles faster than any girl ever has at the Montana state cross country championships with 16:30.71. That’s three seconds faster than Makena Morley won the Class B title last year on a different course.

Hill beat adidas Dream Mile champion Christina Aragon of Billings Senior by 17 seconds. Aragon and teammate Tiahna Vladic went 2-3 in the girls race.

Bozeman, however, remained the top program in the state. The girls won for the ninth straight year, with 52 points. The boys won for the eighth straight year, with 33. The Hawks went 3-4-6-8-12, led by junior Riley Collins.

Up front, Flathead’s Jake Perrin ran to a nine-second win over Helena’s Aidan Reed, 14:47.9 to 14:57.1. One of the pre-race favorites, Marshall Beatty of Missoula Sentinel, was fifth.

Corvallis swept the Class A team titles. The boys scored 70 points to outpace Fergus and Hardin (104 each), while the girls scored 103 to hang on and beat Whitefish (114). Individually, it was a sweep for Hamilton. Senior Cameron Miekle of Hamiton ran 15:26.3 for an 11-second win. On the girls side, junior Jaycie Schmalz ran 18:26.2 for an easy win.

Class B is a division in Montana that has been dominated by one family: the Morleys of Bigfork. With the graduation of Makena to the University of Montana, her younger siblings picked up the slack. Sophomore Bryn won the girls title in 17:26.2 to lead Bigfork to the team title. Senior Logan Morley won the boys race in 15:36 for his second straight title. Manhattan won the team crown with 25 points, going 2-3-6-7-15.

In Class C (where only three runners from a team score), West Yellowstone senior Bailee Parker ran a very strong 17:46.1 to win her second straight title by more than a minute. Winnett-Melstone, a coop team, made some history with its victory. Melstone hadn’t won a state title since 1976 and Winnett had never won one.

Evan Duggan of Darby won the Class C boys race with 16:10. He won by half a minute. Richey-Lambert scored 24 points for the team win.