Jesse Rumsey wishes she had a few more girls out but is pleased with both her cross country teams as they head into their own Flathead Invitational today at Rebecca Farm.

Start with the boys: The Braves lost a trio of seniors off last year’s team but four runners return from a squad that finished fifth at the State AA meet, four points behind Glacier. 

“The boys are looking even stronger this year,” Rumsey said. “We are young again and we are really excited about our depth.” 

Junior Carson Thorne, who was 11th at State last October, leads a return cast that includes seniors Brodyn DeShaw (20th at State), Chris Holland and Nick Taylor. Taylor ran as a sophomore but not last season. 

Thorne, Ty Vandervelden, Kamp Kastner and Mason Lackey — Lackey also plays soccer — are the top juniors; sophomore Colt Gress had a strong start to his season in Libby last week.  

“We have a big group of freshman boys out,” Rumsey added. 

Three Bravettes competed in Libby last week, led by junior Emery Eash, the coach’s daughter. She finished 11th at a tough meet. 

“She ran a time that was comparable to right before State last season,” Rumsey said. “She’s off on the right foot. 

Fellow junior Everett Holland, who is working back from an injury, and senior Akiyah Hardman also ran in Libby. The trio competed at last year’s state championships, along with senior Lily Parris and junior Lila Zuffalato.  

Parris is another two-sport-at-once athlete; she’s also competing in flag football. Two more runners, junior Camas Bushnell and freshman Finley Putzler, are also playing soccer.  

“Our girls roster is pretty small this year, but we have a couple up-and-coming freshman that are promising,” said Rumsey, singling out Rose Ford and Maggie Williams. “Last year and this year we haven’t had the numbers. Three years ago we lost a really strong senior class, and we’ve just been building up since then.” 

The varsity boys race starts 11 a.m. at Rebecca Farm; the varsity girls go off at 11:30 a.m., with the junior varsity races after.