Running some of their fastest times of the year, the Columbia Falls boys cross country team took first at the Thompson Falls invitational last week, while the girls placed second.

Shawn Whitman paced the Cats with a time of 16:08 to win the race outright. The boys had five runners in the top ten. Patric Jessat took third with a time of 16:14, Justin Whitman was sixth with a 16:24, Derrick Williams, was seventh with a 16:43 and Pascal Jessat was ninth with a 16:59.

Everyone but Williams, who was coming back after a hamstring injury, had personal best times.

Coach Richard Menicke was very pleased with the boy's performance and said it was nice to see Pascal Jessat break the 17-minute mark. He noted the younger brother to Patric needs to run strong in the post season for Cats.

Also running well for the Cats was Joe Gross, 12th, 17:19, and Kodiak Gimbel, who ran a 17:50, good enough for 22nd.

On the girls' side, Nicki Moser and Jinise Osborne both had times of 20:14 — good for ninth and tenth.

Also placing were Madison Stolte, 15th, 20:49; 16th, Kaylin Carvey 20:55, 20th Tessa Cowan, 21:34 and 25th, Cami Cassazza 21:59.

"The girls ran exceptional. I'm really happy with their performance," Menicke said. He said the goal was to get their average times under 21 minutes and they did that.

"It was a big benchmark," he said.

Columbia Falls competes in Whitefish this weekend, with varsity races starting at 10 a.m.

Menicke said the goal was to simply run a strong race, but also not get injured — the weather is supposed to be brutally cold for October, with temperatures in the low teens to single digits.

The girls should be motivated. Whitefish has outpaced them all season long.

"They've been a great carrot out there," he said.