Harriers win titles at Browning Invitational

Dust clouds hung in the air and the prairie grass swayed as the Columbia Falls harriers competed at the Browning Invitational in Browning.

Coach Jim Peacock will often tell his runners to “come prepared for snow” for meets on the east side, as weather can change from blazing sun to freezing cold in a matter of hours. Browning holds the world record for greatest fall in temperature in 24 hours: on January 23-24, 1916, the temperature dropped 100 degrees, from 44 to a bone chilling -56. This was the result of a powerful arctic high-pressure system moving rapidly south from Canada along the Rocky Mountain Front.

There’s “not a level spot to be had,” on the Browning course, with approximately 230 feet of net elevation gain.  

“It was a productive choice to head to Browning as opposed to Corvallis; while there’s lots of competition down in the Bitterroot, Browning provides better hill training, and we ran against the competition we had. For this point in the season, it’s just what the doctor ordered,” Peacock surmised. 

The girls won the meet by a fair margin, Columbia Falls (24) to Browning (62). 

Three of the girls broke into the top six finishers, which is infrequently seen in the sport of cross country. 

“The guys and gals are closing the splits between the first and fifth runner, developing a much better team,” Peacock said. The optimal strategy to win a cross country meet is to have the least spread between your top five runners; this could come back to benefit the girls considerably at state,” Peacock said. 

Ashley Andrews executed an impressive third place finish, with a time of 21:10. Findley Dezzani came in 4th overall with a 21:29, followed by Hazel Alexander, 21:33.

The varsity boys bested Browning 34 to 40, a close match up.

On the boy’s side, there were a few key switch-ups. Keian Moran, a junior, cracked into varsity with a time of 19:13. There were no changes among the top five varsity runners; however, expect to see continued shifting among the 6th and 7th place positions throughout the season.  

Browning’s own River Racine won the boys race with a stately time of 16:37. Causing a great deal of crowd confusion, River Blazejewski came in with a second place finish of 16:53. Mason Colliander was second for Columbia Falls, fifth place finish, with a time of 17:37. 

“Mason continues to push his physical limits and show growth,” Peacock highlighted.

  “It was a fun race, hillier than I was expecting,” freshman Cadence McMullin pointed out.

   The Herd of Turtles will travel down to the Bitterroot next weekend to compete in Montana’s largest high school cross country race, drawing some 3,000 competitors annually: the Mountain West Classic. If you’re a spectator, get there early, as parking fills up quickly.