Sage Wanner’s been winning cross-country races from start to finish all season long. The senior Wildcat did it again Saturday en route to a Western A Classic title in Fairmont Hot Springs near Butte in 16:24.

Wanner was briefly challenged by Corvallis’ Carson Jessop in the last mile before he turned on a 400- meter kick that was too much for Jessop to match, coach Jim Peacock said.

As a team, the boys took third.

Kimberly Peacock took second in the girls race, clocking a 19:28, just three seconds behind Hamilton’s Jaycie Schmalz, a great finish for the Columbia Falls freshman.

The girls also took third as a team.

Gabe Knudsen ran an outstanding race to finish 12th and earn all-conference honors. His time was 17:34. Winfield West just missed all-conference with a 18th-place finish, running well to cover the course in 17:48. Other finishers for Columbia Falls were: Dillon Wanner, 30th, Beau Umbriaco, 32nd, Joe Lamb, 33rd and William Nelson 41st.

On the girls side, Genevieve DeLorme was Columbia Falls’ other all-conference finisher, placing 15th in 21:10. Raina Crowell gutted out a time of 21:32, good for 18th overall. Rounding out the Columbia Falls team were: MegAnn Hanson, 21st, Kara Mohr, 22nd, Haylie Peacock, 30th, and Raychel Hoerner, 40th.

Whitefish won the girls team title, Corvallis won the boys. The teams don’t have to travel far for the state meet this year, as it’s held at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell Saturday.

The girls Class A race is at 1:45 p.m., while boys Class A race is 2:50 p.m.

Both Wanner and Peacock have a good shot at a state title, coach Peacock noted.