THOMPSON FALLS - The Whitefish girls cross country team was back to form on Thursday, placing five girls in the top eight for a team total of 21 points. The Columbia Falls boys had five in the top 10 and won with 27 points.

Columbia Falls' Shawn Whitman won the boys race in 16:08 while junior Bailey Eaton paced Whitefish, the two-time defending state champions, with a winning time of 18:33, which is a new school record at Whitefish.

Loni Hanson finished third, 19:00, Jessica Sagen was fourth, 19:13, Carly Schwickert was fifth, 19:35, Hannah Weaver was eighth, 20:00 and Whitefish ran its fastest race to date this season.

"Having those girls run up where they were just shows us that we're coming closer," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said.

"That gives us a nice solid top five. I'm pretty happy with that."

All five of Columbia Falls' top runners ran personal bests - Patric Jessat took third, 16:14, Justin Whitman was sixth, 16:24, Derrick Williams was seventh, 16:43, and Pascal Jessat was ninth, 16:59

"We couldn't be happier right now," Columbia Falls coach Richard Menicke said. "I'm really proud of these kids, they really gave it up today."

Thompson Falls Invitational

Thursday

Boys

Columbia Falls 27, Frenchtown 63, Flathead JV 95, Whitefish 102, Plains 137, Eureka 167, Libby 177, Thompson Falls 194, Arlee 205

Top 25

1, Shawn Whitman, CF, 16:08; 2, Dylan Day, EUR, 16:13; 3, Patric Jessat, CF, 16:14; 4, Carter Montgomery, PL, 16:14; 5, Clay Armstrong, FRE, 16:17; 6, Justin Whitman, CF, 16:24; 7, Derrick Williams, CF, 16:43; 8, Nathan Knox, WF, 16:49; 9, Pascal Jessat, CF, 16:59; 10, Nathan Francis, FRE, 17:03; 11, Erik Patyk, FLAT, 17:17; 12, Joe Gross, CF, 17:19; 13, Jace Kalbfleish, WF, 17:21; 14, Carson Hochhalter, FRE, 17:25; 15, Jeremiah Geiser, FLAT, 17:31; 16, Carson Wabaunsee, FRE, 17:32; 17, Jon Weaver, EUR, 17:32; 18, Hokan Holmquist, FRE, 17:42; 19, Caleb Allen-Schmid, FLAT, 17:44; 20, Matt Macfarlane, FLAT, 17:45; 21, Jared Sine, PL, 17:47; 22, Kodiak Gimbel, CF, 17:50; 23, Fischer Gangemi, WF, 17:52; 24, Kenneth Beech, PL, 17:53; 25, Jacob Thomas, LIB, 17:54

Girls

Whitefish 21, Columbia Falls 70, Thompson Falls 87, Flathead JV 116, Frenchtown 131, Eureka 150

Top 25

1, Bailey Eaton, WF, 18:33; 2, Emily Schall, FRE, 18:53; 3, Loni Hanson, WF, 19:00; 4, Jessica Sagen, WF, 19:13; 5, Carly Schwickert, WF, 19:35; 6, Beca Gunderson, TF, 19:45; 7, Nikola Falk, LIB, 19:54; 8, Hannah Weaver, WF, 20:00; 9, Nikki Moser, CF, 20:14; 10, Jinise Osborne, CF, 20:14; 11, Mariah Naegeli, TF, 20:23; 12, Jeffreyanne Parker, TF, 20:32; 13, Monica Conlin, TF, 20:39; 14, Bailey Malecha, EUR, 20:43; 15, Madison Stolte, CF, 20:49; 16, Kaylin Carvey, CF, 20:55; 17, Cristine Boles, FLAT, 21:08; 18, Anne Miller, WF, 21:10; 19, Elizabeth Stevenson, WF, 21:11; 20, Tessa Cowan, CF, 21:34; 21, Nichole Birk, WF, 21:34; 22, Adriana Saunderson, FLAT, 21:43; 23, Alex Brunson, EUR, 21:49; 24, Alexas Young, CF, 21:53; 25, Cami Cassazza, CF, 21:59.