The Flathead Invitational cross country meet is set for noon Friday at Rebecca Farm, which also happens to be the site of this year’s State Cross Country Championships.

Long story short, there’s going to be a crowd.

When the dust settles some powerful Flathead Valley squads will have an indication of how this season might go. The Libby Invitational started the ball rolling last Friday, but this meet brings in 42 teams (three from Canada) and 999 runners.

The teams include Flathead and Glacier as well as State A powers like Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Here’s a look at what some of our area teams are bringing to the course.

AA Girls

The Flathead girls had the strongest showing of the Kalispell programs at last year’s state championships, finishing fifth as a team while top runner Lilli Rumsey Eash was fifth individually.

Coach Jesse Rumsey lost two seniors off that team, but with her daughter and fellow seniors Afton Wride, Mikenna Conan and Hailey Hendrickson, junior Josie Wilson, sophomore Lindy Porter, there is a solid starting six.

Rumsey Eash, Wilson and Conan finished 2-3-5 in Libby, helping the Bravettes win a five-team meet that included Coeur d’Alene.

“Josie had a great summer of running, and is really running strong,” Rumsey said of Wilson. “I imagine my seventh varsity spot will change back and forth throughout the season.”

The coach stopped short of putting state trophy (top three) expectations on the squad.

“We have a lot of really good competition across the state,” said Rumsey, whose teams head to the Bozeman Invitational next week. “We’re focusing on tightening some gaps among our varsity team and improving our finishes from last year.”

Glacier coach Cody Moore is excited about how much his girls could improve over last year’s ninth-place finish. Junior Alyssa Vollersten and seniors Bailey Gable and Anna Tretter form a nice nucleus, and another three runners from state are back.

The list includes senior Annabeth O’Shea, junior Camren Eddy and sophomore Tiara Howard. Moore notes freshman Lauren Bissen has followed up on her standout middle school running with an excellent summer.

This will be Glacier’s first meet of 2023 and Moore can’t wait.

“It’s going to be one of the deepest squads and most competitive that Glacier has ever had,” he said. “These girls are chomping at the bit.”

Defending champion Missoula Hellgate, which returns three runners that finished in the top 13 a year ago, is still a favorite. Gallatin’s Claire Rutherford and Isabell Ross led a 1-2-11 Raptor finish as well.

AA Boys

Rumsey is very pleased with the early returns on her boys team, which graduated one runner off last year’s squad that finished ninth at state.

Helping is transfer Robbie Nuila, who helped Mission win the State B boys championship last fall with a second-place finish (to teammate Andrew Rush). Nuila is now a Flathead runner, and was the top non-Coeur d’Alene finisher in Libby, taking sixth.

He joins a lineup that includes senior Bauer Hollman, juniors Kasen Kastner and Jacob Johnson, and sophomores Mitchell Johnson and Ryker Zuffelato.

“Just an amazing addition to our squad,” Rumsey said of Nuila. “It’s really raised the bar for all the boys.”

Also helping is a promising freshman named Hunter Arriaga.

“This is one of the deepest teams I’d say Flathead has had since the mid-2000s,” Rumsey said. “I see some drastic improvement for this team this year.”

Moore sees the same potential for the Glacier boys, who were 14th last October.

Sophomore Owen Thiel and juniors AJ Zlogar and Jack Syversen ran state a year ago, and Thiel took 44th to lead the way. Three seniors graduated but Moore likes the look of senior Jonas Kreitner, who’s out for cross country for the first time, along with freshmen Gabe Ackerly and Charlie Zlogar.

Both Zlogar boys split time between the soccer pitch and the 5,000-meter courses.

“There are going to be quite a few boys battling it out for the 5-6-7 positions,” Moore said. “A top 10 finish (at state) would be a huge improvement, and honestly this team could get quite a bit above that.”

He’s also pleased to have 49 athletes out between his two squads.

“It’s a joy to coach these kids and see their momentum build in this program,” Moore said.

A Girls

Columbia Falls finished a narrow third, two points behind Corvallis, at last year’s State A meet, and a couple talented seniors that helped the Wildkats win the 2021 championship graduated.

The Kats aren’t going anywhere.

“I think people might think we’re depleted, and I have to turn around and say, we’re not,” Columbia Falls coach Jim Peacock said. “This is still a team that I have pretty high aspirations for, come state.”

Junior Mya Badger and senior Ally Sempf, who finished 17th and 18th a year ago, and Marissa Schaeffer lead the way. Ashley Andrews scored at state as a freshman and was seventh in Libby last Friday; freshman Cora Hannan has impressed.

Whitefish was fifth at state last year, and Bulldogs coach Richard Menicke feels good about a squad that includes 800 champ Maeve Inglefinger and fellow senior Morgan Grube — the duo finished 4-6 in Libby — along with junior Hazel Gawe.

“We have a really, to me, a very exciting girls team,” Menicke said. “Three senior girls and then four freshmen that could be really good. It can be a potent combination.”

Hardin, which scored 37 points behind a very young team, is the presumptive state favorite.

A Boys

Whitefish, second at state last year, is the only boys team to return two All-State runners from 2022: seniors Deneb Linton and Mason Genovese.

Two seniors graduated, but seniors Zachary Chiarito and Azure Stole return along with junior Ethan Amick. Add in newcomer Simon Douglas, a strong 1,600 runner last spring who’s also been playing soccer, and that’s a really good top five.

“We’re looking real good, but no one can get hurt,” Menicke said. “We’re kind of thin from there.

“Ethan, Simon and Azure all had really nice races in Libby. They exceeded expectations from where I thought they would be.”

Columbia Falls was fifth and returns its top five from 2022: Seniors Logan Peterson and Quinn Clark, juniors Oliver Kress and Lucas Peterson and sophomore River Blazejewski. Not all of them have run yet because of a lack of practices, but there’s also depth.

Sophomore Jack Phelps was the among the fastest freshmen in Class A a year ago; juniors Griffin LaRoque, Broc Swope and Eric Miner and seniors David Slama and Alex Branstetter are all fighting the veterans for seven spots.

“It’s a great problem to have,” Peacock said. “Because of that depth their training has been so awesome. It’s really fun watching these kids do their thing right now.”

A lot of Class A boys teams return a lot of talent: Three of the top 10 finishers at last year’s State A were freshmen, including champion Greyson Piseno of Billings Central. Team champion Livingston was led by freshman Finn Schrethenthaler.

Elsewhere? Watch out for Browning, which boasts three All-State threats in Preston Iron Heart, Jerdan Crawford and River Racine.