KALISPELL - Several Lake County runners placed high during the Flathead Invitational last Saturday in Kalispell. Despite having competition from several AA schools, Ronan and Polson both had stars on the course. Polson freshman Aja Starkey once again proved to be a prodigy, finishing second with a time of 18:59

"Aja ran up against a very formidable rival in Hellgate's Paige Gilchrist [who finished first], but got her attention with some great surges and finished a strong second, well ahead of the rest of the field," Polson head coach Matt Seeley said.

The Ronan boys' team showed tremendous promise, with their top runners placing in the top-55 spots of the race. There was just 41 seconds separating the No. 1 and No. 5 runner.

"We were really happy with how tightly they were grouped," Ronan head coach Gale Decker said.

Ronan junior Cody Johnson finished 36th with a time of 18:26, while senior Kevin Wrebleweski finished 39th at 18:33 and senior Justin Dusty Bull was 43rd at 18:50. Junior Brady Oakland was 50th at 19:03 and sophomore Danny Romero rounded out the top five runners placing 53rd with a time of 19:07.

"We were right on the heels of Browning and Columbia Falls in team scores and both of those teams should be in the hunt for a state championship," Decker said.

The Polson girls also had strong finishers on the team as freshman Claudia Hewston was 11th with 20:53 and senior Mesa Starkey was 19th with a time of 21:14. The girls as a team took third place in the varsity race. For the Polson boys, sophomore Jimmy Bjorde led the way, placing 29th with a time of 18:07. Junior Alex Nystrom finished 34th at 18:12. Freshman Tel Motichka was 69th with a time of 20:08.

"The boys got a real taste of the speed of some of those AA varsity runners and should be very motivated to work hard and improve as the season progresses," Seeley said.

The Ronan girls ran in the JV race, with junior Ashley Grandchamp placing ninth with a time of 22:35.

"She went out hard and was in the top five early in the race," Decker said. "She has been working very hard in practice and it's paying off on race day."

Both teams will run in the Mountain West Classic in Missoula next weekend.